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AMERICAN  EDUCATION  SERIES 
GEORGE  DRAYTON  STRAYER,  GENERAL  EDITOR 


AMERICAN  EDUCATION  SER/K^ 
CEORGE  DRAYTON  STRAYER,  GENERAL  EDITOR 


THE  TREND  IN 
AMERICAN  EDUCATION 


BY 


JAMES  EARL  RUSSELL 

DEAN  OF  TEACHERS  COLLEGE, 
COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


LA    ' 


AMERICAN   BOOK  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI  CHICAGO 

BOSTON  ATLANTA 


JO    A-t^^ef.'^-^    ~  1 1  I  ^0 


COPVRIGHT,  1922,  BY 

AMERICAN   BOOK  COMPANY 


RIJSSELL  —  TREND   IN  EDUCATION 


MADE  IN   U.  S.   A. 
E.  P.  I. 


EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

One  of  the  most  significant  phenomena  in  the  develop- 
ment of  our  American  democracy  during  the  past  thirty 
years  has  been  the  ever  enlarging  scope  of  our  system  of 
education.  There  has  been  a  conscious  attempt  on  the 
part  of  our  people  to  reahze  the  democratic  ideal  of  equality 
of  opportunity.  The  remarkable  progress  that  has  been 
made  is  due  in  no  small  measure  to  the  leadership  of  a 
group  of  men  and  women  who  have  thought  and  planned 
in  advance  of  current  practice. 

During  the  twenty-five  years  which  are  just  past  Dean 
Russell  has  been  responsible  for  the  development  of  an 
educational  institution  which  has  trained  leaders  for  our 
American  schools  from  the  kindergarten  to  the  university. 
He  has  been  in  the  position  of  one  who  has  thought  and 
planned  in  terms  of  our  rapidly  developing  school  system. 
His  leadership  would  not  have  been  recognized  had  he 
sought  merely  to  meet  the  current  demand.  The  very 
great  respect  which  members  of  the  profession  have  come 
to  have  for  his  judgment,  and  their  confidence  in  his  fore- 
sight are  clearly  evidenced  by  the  growth  and  influence 
of  the  institution  over  which  he  presides. 

In  this  volume  Dean  Russell  records  his  thought  con- 
cerning many  of  the  problems  which  have  perplexed  us 
during  the  past  twenty  years.  The  papers  cover  a  wide 
range  of  topics,  and  are  presented  here  with  only  slight 

5 


577595 


6  editor's  introduction 

revision  and  for  the  most  part  in  chronological  order.  The 
reader  will  find,  however,  a  unity  among  them  determined 
by  the  author's  thought  with  respect  to  the  development 
of  our  American  schools.  One  who  is  a  member  of  the 
teaching  profession  will  come  from  his  perusal  of  the 
volume  with  a  clearer  understanding  of  the  purpose  of 
our  public  schools  and  with  a  renewed  acceptance  of  the 
call  to  professional  service. 

George  D.  Strayer 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER 

I.    The  Trend  in  American  Education  . 

II.    The    Training    of    Teachers    for    Secondary 
Schools         

III.  The  Educational  Value  of  Examinations  for 

Admission  to  College   .... 

IV.  The    Opportunities    and    Responsibilities    of 

Professional  Service    .... 

V.    The  Call  to  Professional  Service  . 

VI.    The  School  and  Industrial  Life 

VII.    Professional  Factors  in  the  Training  of  the 
High-School  Teacher 

VIII.  Speclalism  in  Education  .... 

IX.  Coeducation  in  High  Schools  . 

X.  The  Vital  Things  in  Education 

XI.  Scouting  Education         .... 

XII.  Education  for  Democracy 

XIII.  The  Organization  of  Teachers 


PACK 

9 
26 

47 

61 

77 
90 

115 
140 

157 
168 
184 
201 
215 


XIV.    The  University  and  Professional  Training  223 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION* 

THE  keynote  of  American  life  is  democracy  —  social 
democracy.  I  say  social  democracy,  because 
England  is  politically  more  democratic  than 
the  United  States.  On  the  other  hand,  England  inherits 
conceptions  of  caste  of  which  we  know  nothing.  The  Eng- 
lish churchman  prays  to  be  content  with  that  station  in 
life  in  which  Providence  has  placed  him.  On  the  other  side 
of  the  water,  schools  for  the  poor  are  free;  the  rich  must  pay 
for  their  education.  The  great  preparatory  schools  of  Eng- 
land, as  well  as  the  venerable  universities,  are  for  gentle- 
men's sons,  and  only  gentlemen  are  wanted  in  the  church, 
at  the  bar,  or  in  the  army  and  navy. 

Beginning  of  education  in  New  England.  —  The  found- 
ers of  this  republic  thought  it  a  self-evident  truth  that 
all  men  are  created  equal.  The  settlers  of  New  England 
left  the  old  world  in  search  of  religious  freedom  —  to  found 
a  new  home  in  which  each  might  worship  God  in  his  own 
way.  They  were  so  intensely  in  earnest  that  they  were 
willing  to  suffer  for  the  faith,  and  so  conscientious  that 
they  were  willing  also  to  make  others  suffer  for  differing 
with  them. 

They  were  stem  men,  those  ancient  fathers  of  New 
England,  and  they  had  little  faith  in  the  natural  course 

»A  revised  reprint  from  the  EDUCATIONAL  Revibw,  New  York,  June,  1906,  used  by 
cotirtesy  of  the  publishers. 


lo  , '.'  i  ;'1ra;?'  trend  in  American  education 

i}i:  h^'itdin .  development.  Five  years  after  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  they  founded  the 
Boston  Latin  School  —  "  younger  "  and  more  vigorous  to- 
day than  at  any  other  time  in  its  history.  A  letter  written 
at  the  time  says:  "After  God  had  carried  us  safely  to  New 
England,  and  we  had  builded  our  houses,  provided  neces- 
saries for  our  livelihood,  rear'd  convenient  places  for 
God's  worship,  and  settled  the  Civill  Govt. :  one  of  the  next 
things  we  longed  for,  and  looked  after,  was  to  advance 
learning  and  perpetuate  it  to  posterity,  dreading  to  leave 
an  illiterate  ministry  to  the  churches,  when  our  present 
ministers  shall  lie  in  the  dust." 

Next,  in  1640,  they  founded  Harvard  College  —  also 
"  younger "  and  more  vigorous  than  at  any  other  time 
in  its  career.  Then,  two  years  later  (1642),  they  urged 
selectmen  to  see  that  parents  provided  for  the  education 
of  all  children  to  the  extent  of  teaching  them  (i)  to  read, 
(2)  to  understand  the  principles  of  religion,  (3)  the  capital 
laws  of  the  colony,  and  (4)  to  engage  in  some  suitable 
employment. 

In  1647  ^^  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  passed  its 
epoch-making  act  providing  for  public  instruction:  "It 
being  one  chief  object  of  that  old  deluder,  Satan,  to  keep 
men  from  the  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  as  in  former 
times  by  keeping  them  in  an  unknown  tongue,  so  in  these 
latter  times  by  persuading  from  the  use  of  tongues,  .  .  . 
that  learning  may  not  be  buried  in  the  grave  of  our  fathers 
in  the  Church  and  Commonwealth,  the  Lord  assisting  our 
endeavors,  etc.,  etc.  ...  It  is  therefore  ordered " 
.  .  .  that  there  be  (i)  one  teacher  for  every  fifty 
householders,  to  teach  reading  and  writing,  and  (2)  one 


THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION  II 

grammar  school  when  a  town  reaches  one  hundred  fam- 
ilies "  to  instruct  youth  so  far  as  they  may  be  fitted  for 
the  university." 

/  From  such  a  beginning  has  come  our  great  school  system, 
potentially  the  mightiest  engine  for  good  in  our  national 
hfe,  actually  the  most  expensive  single  department  in  our 
civil  government.  It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  in 
those  early  days  "  reading  and  writing  "  were  the  means 
of  training  the  common  man;  the  substance  of  his  educa- 
tion consisted  of  religion,  civil  government,  and  suitable 
employment  —  all  of  them  factors  of  everyday  Hfe  in  the 
home,  the  church,  and  the  community.  Until  1692  only 
church  members  were  freemen  and  allowed  to  vote. 
Down  to  the  nineteenth  century  there  were  no  public 
elementary  schools,  as  we  know  them.  The  schools  that 
did  exist  were  designed  to  fit  boys  for  college,  and  the  col- 
leges were  but  stepping-stones  to  leadership  in  state  and 
church. 

Development  of  leadership.  —  So  it  has  been  from  the 
beginning  of  human  society.  Schools  for  leaders  come 
first,  because  no  society  can  long  endure  that  does  not 
have  capable  leaders  —  leaders  in  the  field  and  leaders  in 
the  forum.  The  masses  of  the  people  may  be  trained  — 
and  trained  successfully,  too,  —  to  maintain  civil  order 
and  social  stabiUty  by  the  institution  of  slavery,  or  bond- 
age, or  serfdom,  or  by  social  customs  which  impose  class 
distinctions  upon  all.  With  leaders  trained  to  lead  and  a 
people  trained  to  obey,  you  have  the  prime  factors  in 
successful  national  hfe  —  successful,  at  any  rate,  from  the 
autocratic  or  paternal  standpoint.  There  is  no  call  for 
universal  education  until  in  the  course  of  human  events 


12  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

men  —  individual  human  beings  —  have  rights  which  can- 
not be  denied  them.  Schools  for  the  common  people  arise 
when  it  is  recognized,  for  example,  that  each  person  has 
a  soul  to  save,  or  when  the  form  of  government  gives  to 
each  a  vote. 

Era  of  industrialism.  —  The  trend  in  American  educa- 
tion for  nearly  two  hundred  years  was  advantageous  to 
those  who  were  to  be  our  leaders.  There  was  first  the 
Latin  school,  preparatory  to  college,  and  then  the  collegiate 
course  preparatory  to  the  ministry  and  to  law  —  i.  e.y 
leadership  in  Church  and  State.  Gradually  American  life 
began  to  demand  trained  physicians  and  engineers.  Per- 
haps, in  one  sense,  there  had  always  been  such  a  need,  but 
consciousness  of  the  need  was  not  roused  until  the  dis- 
covery of  the  manufacture  and  transmission  of  power 
through  steam  some  hundred  years  ago.  A  new  era  was 
ushered  in  with  the  nineteenth  centurjr. 

1.  A  government  guaranteeing  equal  rights  had  been 
firmly  established,  and  the  old  causes  for  contention  were 
thus  removed. 

2.  Freedom  of  worship  was  assured  to  all.  Denomi- 
national control  of  education  gave  way  to  state  control. 

3.  Increasing  immigration  began  to  make  for  a  cosmo- 
politan population.  Life  was  growing  more  complex; 
less  dependence  could  be  placed  on  domestic  training. 

4.  Advances  in  science  led  to  a  new  industrial  order. 
Previous  to  the  year  1800,  men  could  use  only  such  power 
as  they  had  in  their  own  bodies,  in  domesticated  animals, 
or  in  moving  air  or  running  water.  How  impotent  such 
means  to  the  settling  of  the  great  West  and  the  upbuilding 
of  a  great  nation! 


THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION  I3 

Differentiation  in  offerings.  —  These  are  some  of  the 
influences  which  converted  us,  within  the  limits  of  a  single 
century,  from  a  provincial  and  agricultural  people  into  an 
industrial  and  commercial  nation.  The  result  was  that 
the  old  education,  however  successful  it  may  have  been 
in  producing  great  preachers  and  men  of  affairs,  speedily 
became  inadequate  to  meet  the  demands  of  an  industrial 
and  commercial  age.  A  process  of  differentiation  was 
soon  noticeable  within  the  college,  and  new  professional 
schools  sprang  into  being.  Take,  for  example,  the  year 
1850  as  a  turning  point.  Before  1850  we  had,  in  all,  some 
10  law  schools,  37  medical  schools,  2  schools  of  dentistry, 
3  engineering  schools,  2  schools  of  agriculture  and  mechan- 
ical arts.  We  have  since  increased  the  number  to  86  law 
schools  (50  of  these  having  been  established  between  1876 
and  1900),  156  medical  schools  (86  established  between 
1876  and  1900),  56  schools  of  dentistry  (47  established 
between  1876  and  1900),  while  engineering  schools  and 
schools  of  agriculture  and  mechanic  arts  are  everywhere.^ 
><  And  the  end  is  not  yet.  We  are  rapidly  building  schools 
for  nurses,  for  artists,  for  railway  superintendents,  for 
architects,  for  housekeepers  and  homemakers,  for  jour- 
nalists, and  even  for  philanthropists.  Then,  too,  look  at 
the  differentiation  within  the  old  groups.  Medical  schools 
are  to-day  professional  or  graduate,  medical  or  surgical, 
allopathic  or  homeopathic,  or  eclectic.  Engineering  has 
subdivided  into  civil,  electrical,  mechanical,  chemical, 
sanitary,  and  so  on  through  the  list  as  given  by  many  of 
our  great  technical  schools. 

1  Present  statistics  show  142  law  schools,  94  medical  schools,  and 
50  schools  of  dentistry. 


14  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

/  Progress  of  education.  —  There  is,  as  I  have  said,  no 
end  to  this  development,  and  there  can  be  no  end  to  it,  so 
long  as  human  needs  increase  or  differentiate  or  become 
more  complex.  The  greater  the  need  of  trained  leaders 
the  more  positive  the  tendency  to  supply  them.  When  we 
cease  to  grow  and  expand  territorially;  when  our  wants 
become  fewer  or  our  ambitions  and  susceptibilities  become 
less  keen;  when  we  stop  pushing  onward  —  then  you  may 
confidently  predict  a  period  of  ease  and  comfort  and  satis- 
faction with  existing  educational  opportunities.  But  so 
long  as  the  United  States  holds  its  place  among  the  great 
world  powers,  so  long  as  our  states  and  cities  have  ideals 
to  which  they  have  not  attained,  so  long  as  individuals 
have  ambitions  which  are  not  satisfied,  so  long  will  edu- 
cational affairs  remain  unsettled  and  unsatisfying.  The 
millennium  which  many  school  boards  and  some  edu- 
cators long  for  —  that  age  in  which  the  public  will  not 
ask  for  better  schools  and  more  of  them,  and  when  school 
superintendents  and  college  presidents  will  cease  to  vex 
their  teachers  with  requests  to  do  some  new  thing  —  that 
millennium,  I  say,  will  mark  the  decline  and  fall  of  the 
great  American  Republic.  It  will  be  the  end  of  a  demo- 
cratic fiasco  in  civil  government,  the  bursting  of  the  bubble 
which  has  tantalized  European  autocrats  for  a  century 
with  some  semblance  of  reality,  the  end  of  the  most  stu- 
pendous failure  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

No,  there  can  be  no  rest,  no  halt,  even,  in  the  progress  of 
education.  It  is  not  something  which  can  be  stopped  and 
started  at  will;  it  is  not  a  tangible  reality  which  can  be 
fixed  on  a  plate  for  microscopic  examination  at  any  time. 
It  is  a  vital  process,  indissolubly  bound  up  with  our  social 


THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION  1 5 

and  dvil  life.  Once  you  catch  it,  or  check  its  course,  you 
will  find  in  your  hands  merely  lifeless  clay,  a  cadaver,  in 
which  the  vital  spark  is  extinguished. 

Changes  in  course  of  study.  —  The  trend  in  American 
education  has  been  not  only  in  the  differentiation  of  pro- 
fessional schools,  but  also  in  the  courses  of  study  and  sub- 
jects taught.  I  have  no  time  to  point  out  the  changes 
that  have  taken  place  even  within  a  generation  in  our 
American  colleges  and  universities.  Up  to  1800  the  en- 
trance requirements  to  our  best  colleges  were  Latin, 
Greek,  and  sometimes  a  Uttle  arithmetic  "  as  far  as  the 
rule  of  three  ";  and  even  in  Latin  and  Greek  scarcely  as 
much  as  we  now  read  in  three  years  in  a  good  high  school. 
But  between  1800  and  1870  eight  new  subjects  were  added 
to  the  entrance  Hst,  "  whereas  during  the  century  and  a 
half  prior  to  1800  the  only  addition  of  any  consequence 
was  elementary  arithmetic." 

I  have  no  need  to  remind  you  that  the  modern  college 
offers  far  more  than  any  one  boy  can  take  or  should  take. 
Hence  the  struggle  over  classical  studies  versus  scientific 
studies,  the  establishment  of  "  modern "  courses,  the 
device  of  multiplying  bachelor's  degrees,  the  elective  sys- 
tem, and  all  that  train  of  controversies  which  have  vexed 
the  souls  and  spoiled  the  tempers  of  many,  many  college 
professors. 

An  indictment  of  present  practices.  —  A  survey  of  the 
field  discloses  much  to  be  thankful  for.  We  have  made 
a  fair  beginning  in  our  higher  education  —  a  beginning, 
I  say,  because  there  is  not  in  this  country  to-day  a  college, 
or  university,  or  professional  school  adequately  equipped 
for  the  work  it  is  attempting  to  do;  there  is  not  one  of  the 


l6  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

great  plants,  however  much  it  may  cost  the  public  for 
maintenance,  that  is  being  conducted  efficiently  or  effect- 
ively, simply  because  the  public  does  not  yet  appreciate 
the  worth  of  the  work  it  is  doing  or  realize  that  the  greatest 
economy  in  operation  is  impossible  when  defective  machines 
and  ill-paid  workmen  are  put  to  a  task  that  demands  the 
best  in  everything  —  the  best  of  equipment,  the  best  of 
men,  and  the  best  of  service.  Some  day,  I  hope,  the 
American  public  will  realize  that  our  school  system,  from 
kindergarten  to  university  professional  school,  is  an  en- 
gine so  expensive  that  we  cannot  affoird  to  keep  it  idle  a 
part  of  the  time,  or  run  it  except  with  its  maximum  load; 
an  engine  so  expensive,  too,  that  we  cannot  afford  to 
intrust  it  to  the  hands  of  inexperienced  or  half-trained 
engineers.  No  business  man  would  for  a  moment  tolerate 
the  waste  and  inefficiency  in  his  affairs  that  we  all  know 
exists  in  education  to-day. 

I  wish  to  push  the  indictment  one  step  farther.  Our 
educational  system  is  not  only  wasteful  and  inefficient 
because  it  is  operated  at  "  low  pressure,"  but  it  is  unfair 
in  that  it  does  not  do  what  the  founders  of  this  republic 
meant  that  it  should  do.  It  does  not  give  equality  of 
opportunity  to  all.  This  may  seem  surprising,  particu- 
larly as  we  have  been  boasting  for  a  century  of  our  Ameri- 
can liberty,  fraternity,  and  equality.  It  is  the  boast,  too, 
of  most  Americans  that  our  great  public-school  system  — 
the  greatest  thing  on  earth  —  provides  alike  for  every  boy 
and  girl  taking  advantage  of  it.  This  is  half  true  —  and 
dangerous,  as  all  half-truths  are.  The  fact  is,  the  Ameri- 
can system  of  education  grants  equality  of  opportunity 
only  to  those  who  can  go  on  to  the  college  and  the  uni- 


/. 


THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION  1 7 

versity.  It  takes  little  account  of  the  boy  —  and  less  still 
of  the  girl  —  who  cannot  or  does  not  wish  for  a  higher 
education.  Those  who  "  drop  out "  at  the  age  of  twelve 
or  fourteen,  compelled  to  earn  a  livelihood,  have  missed 
their  opportunity.  But  why?  Do  we  in  America  have 
need  only  of  professional  men  and  "  men  of  affairs?  " 
Are  those  who  pay  the  taxes  and  do  the  rougher  work  of 
life  to  be  denied  opportunity  for  self -improvement?  Are 
only  those  who  can  afford  to  stay  in  school  to  reap  the 
advantages  of  education?  In  a  word,  what  are  we  doing 
to  help  the  average  man  better  to  do  his  life  work  and 
better  to  realize  the  wealth  of  his  inheritance  as  an  Ameri- 
can citizen?  These  questions  raise  the  problem  of  voca- 
tional training  for  those  who  must  begin  early  to  earn 
their  living.  It  is,  in  my  judgment,  the  greatest  problem 
of  the  future,  and  one  which  we  may  not  longer  disregard 
if  we  are  to  maintain  our  standing  as  a  nation. 

A  start  in  life.  —  Although  we  have  consciously  done 
next  to  nothing  to  give  the  average  man  a  fair  start  in  his 
life  work,  unconsciously  we  have  been  putting  forth  efforts 
to  meet  his  needs.  A  century  ago  the  elementary  school 
was  the  first  step  in  the  way  to  college.  So  it  is  to-day, 
but  with  this  important  difference:  the  curriculum  of  the 
old-time  school  was  rehgion  and  the  three  R's.  The  time 
came  when  religion  had  to  be  put  aside.  That  left  the 
three  R's  —  an  impossible  curriculum,  notwithstanding 
the  praises  of  some  good  people  who  do  not  think  for 
themselves,  but  have  an  unquenchable  desire  to  think 
for  other  people.  You  cannot  read  without  reading  some- 
thing; and  you  cannot  reckon  without  problems  in  some- 
thing.    The  colonial  schoolmaster,  like  the  modern  paro- 

TREND  IN   ED. — 2 


1 8  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

chial  schoolmaster,  made  religion  the  substance  of  his  in- 
struction. The  modern  advocates  of  the  simple  curric- 
ulum of  the  three  R's  must  choose  between  the  "  three 
R's  '*  directed  to  something  and  nothing  at  all. 

The  fact  is,  the  moment  religion  was  put  aside  some- 
thing else  had  to  come  in.  We  put  in  English  literature, 
history,  civics,  science,  and  music  —  in  a  word,  the  course 
was  enriched.  Yet  the  common  sense  of  our  American 
public  insisted  on  further  enrichment  for  the  sake  of  those 
who  needed  a  more  practical  training.  Hence  the  intro- 
duction of  drawing,  manual  training,  cooking,  and  sew- 
ing—  fads  and  frills,  if  you  please,  but  nevertheless  an 
honest  (if  unintentional)  effort  to  accord  to  the  great  mass 
of  our  children  vocational  advantages  similar  to  those  en- 
joyed by  the  few  who  could  go  on  to  higher  grades  of 
vocational  training.  It  is  precisely  the  same  sort  of  de- 
velopment (from  the  simple  to  the  more  complex;  from 
the  general  to  the  specific;  from  the  purely  disciplinary 
to  the  practical  and  vocational)  that  we  have  observed  in 
the  field  of  higher  education. 

But  the  end  is  not  yet.  The  movement  is  only  begun. 
The  trend  is  unmistakably  toward  still  further  differentia- 
tion and  still  more  complete  adaptation  to  the  needs  of 
every-day  life.  The  distinctive  peculiarity  of  American 
education  from  the  beginning  almost  to  the  present  day 
is  its  selective  character.  Like  the  Scottish  schoolmaster, 
we  have  rejoiced  more  over  the  one  "  lad  of  pairts  "  who 
somehow  gets  ahead,  despite  our  instruction,  perhaps, 
than  over  the  ninety  and  nine  who  need  our  help.  We 
boast  of  an  educational  ladder  that  reaches  from  the  gutter 
to  the  university,  and  we  see  nothing  amiss  in  making  our 


THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION  1 9 

elementary  schools  preparatory  to  the  high  school,  and 
the  high  school  preparatory  to  the  college  and  university. 
In  other  words,  that  which  few  need  all  must  take. 

Support  of  education  in  Europe.  —  My  conviction  is  that, 
instead  of  being  satisfied  with  our  school  system  in  this 
country,  we  should  be  thoroughly  ashamed  of  it  —  ashamed 
not  of  our  good  schools  and  the  good  work  that  is  being 
done,  but  ashamed  that  we  as  a  people  are  being  con- 
tented with  so  restricted  a  system  of  public  education  and 
so  narrow  a  curriculum.  We  accept  the  politician's  dic- 
tum that  we  are  too  poor  to  spend  more  than  we  do  on 
education,  when  the  fact  is  we  are  too  poor  to  spend  so 
little.  More,  much  more  than  we  now  spend  on  education 
would  be  money  in  our  pockets  if  only  we  knew  how  to 
spend  it  aright. 

France,  although  heavily  burdened  for  years,  main- 
tained in  addition  to  her  great  system  of  elementary,  sec- 
ondary, and  higher  schools  (including  universities,  profes- 
sional schools,  and  schools  of  science)  the  following  insti- 
tutions for  teaching  the  industrial  arts: 

I  National  Institute  of  Arts  and  Trades. 

I  Central  School  of  Arts  and  Manufactures. 

8  High  vSchools  of  Commerce. 

I  Advanced  School  of  Commerce. 

I  Commercial  Institute. 

4  National  Schools  of  Arts  and  Trades. 

1  National  School  for  Training  Superintendents  and  Foremen. 

2  National  Schools  of  Watchmaking. 
4  National  Professional  Schools. 

26  Commercial  and  Industrial  Schools  for  Boys. 
6  Commercial  and  Industrial  Schools  for  Girls, 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  the  municipal  bodies  of 


20  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

towns  of  any  importance  have  opened  professional  schools 
for  the  elementary  teaching  of  trades,  industries,  or  arts 
(design,  weaving,  lacemaking,  dressmaking,  dyeing,  elec- 
tricity, bookkeeping,  and  stenography).  There  were  also 
numerous  private  schools  and  societies  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  artisan,  which  were  well  attended. 

What  France  has  done  has  also  been  done  —  and  done 
better  in  some  respects  —  by  Belgium,  Holland,  Denmark, 
Sweden,  Switzerland,  and  England. 

American  policies  in  education.  —  There  are  two  suffi- 
cient reasons  for  our  not  following  Europe's  lead:  (i)  we 
don't  want  to,  and  (2)  we  don't  need  to.  We  don't  need 
to  because  life  in  this  country  is  still  easy.  It  isn't  half 
settled  yet.  Some  day  we  shall  have  five  hundred  mil- 
lions here.  I  suppose  we  have  land  enough,  and  land  good 
enough  if  tilled  properly,  to  support  a  population  ten  times 
as  great  as  that  we  now  have.  But  even  fifty  years  from 
now,  at  our  present  rate  of  increase,  we  shall  begin  to  ap- 
preciate what  competition  means.  What  will  it  mean  when 
necessity  compels  us  to  use  at  its  best  every  square  foot  of 
land  we  own?  Then  the  man  who  will  not  work  surely  may 
not  eat.  And  if  he  would  preserve  American  traditions  of 
decency  and  competence,  he  must  work  harder  and  more 
effectively  than  the  man  of  to-day  has  to  work. 

It  must  be  obvious  to  any  fair-minded  student  of  our 
educational  system  that  we  are  doing  next  to  nothing 
either  to  ward  off  threatened  dangers  or  to  prepare  for 
those  which  are  bound  to  come  in  future.  Instead  of 
doing  the  practical  thing  we,  a  so-called  "  practical " 
people,  are  content  to  produce  "  cuteness,"  The  business 
world  expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty  —  but  it  is  very 


THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION  21 

obvious  that  his  first  duty  is  to  hustle  and  to  get  results. 
I  once  heard  a  colored  preacher  in  the  South  illustrate 
the  spirit  of  the  age  in  this  wise:  "  Once  we  measured  time 
by  grandfather's  clock,  which  said,  *  Ever  —  forever, 
never  —  forever  ';  nowadays  we  use  a  Waterbury,  which 
says,  ^  Git  thar  —  git  thar.'  "  Our  aim  is  to  "  git  thar  " 
—  in  our  college  sports,  in  professional  life,  in  business; 
ever>^where  we  count  on  winning,  honestly,  if  possible; 
dishonestly,  if  necessary,  and  if  the  chances  of  getting 
found  out  are  not  too  great. 

Contrary  to  the  findings  of  some  critics,  I  believe  that 
our  schools  are  partly  responsible  for  confirming  us  in  our 
besetting  sins  —  not  by  what  they  teach,  but  in  the  pre- 
vailing methods  of  teaching.  The  fact  is,  we  do  look  for 
results  and  are  not  over-particular  how  these  results  are  ob- 
tained or  whether  they  are  just  right  or  not.  We  are  too 
easily  satisfied  with  a  plausible  rendering  of  a  foreign  text; 
we  are  prone  to  measure  proficiency  by  the  amount  of  work 
done  or  the  time  spent  in  doing  it,  rather  than  by  excel- 
lence of  accomplishment  or  accuracy  of  method.  We  en- 
courage guessing,  and  the  prize  too  often  goes  to  him  who 
shows  greatest  skill  in  concealing  his  ignorance.  In  a  word, 
we  are  too  easily  satisfied  with  appearances  and  attach 
too  little  weight  to  the  moral  effects  of  doing  honest  work. 

There  is  another  reason,  as  I  have  said,  why  we  do  not 
choose  to  follow  European  methods  of  education:  We  don't 
want  to.  We  don't  want  to  because  we  are  not  bound  by 
social  traditions.  Our  society  is  a  social  democracy. 
Our  schools  are  designed  to  grant  equal  opportunity  to 
all.  In  most  other  countries,  England  included,  the 
school  system  is  deliberately  intended  to  keep  some  down 


22  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

while  helping  others  up.  So  long  as  our  mode  of  gov- 
ernment endures  we  cannot  shut  the  door  of  opportunity 
in  the  face  of  any  citizen.  It  is  the  greatest  experiment 
the  world  has  ever  seen,  and  while  there  are  many  who 
would  gladly  see  it  fail,  it  is  our  bounden  duty  to  make  it 
succeed.  It  would  be  presumptuous  to  say,  after  only 
one  century  of  trial,  that  success  is  already  assured.  This 
is  only  the  beginning.  We  are  just  coming  to  realize  some 
of  our  blessings,  as  we  see  more  clearly  for  the  first  time 
some  of  our  dangers. 

Education  for  the  coming  generation.  —  How  can  a 
nation  endure  that  dehberately  seeks  to  rouse  ambitions 
and  aspirations  in  the  oncoming  generations  which  in  the 
nature  of  events  cannot  possibly  be  fulfilled?  If  the  chief 
object  of  government  be  to  promote  civil  order  and  social 
stability,  how  can  we  justify  our  practice  in  schooling  the 
masses  in  precisely  the  same  manner  as  we  do  those  who 
are  to  be  our  leaders?  Is  human  nature  so  constituted 
that  those  who  fail  will  readily  acquiesce  in  the  success  of 
their  rivals,  especially  if  that  success  b'e  the  result  of 
"  cuteness,"  rather  than  honest  effort?  Is  it  any  wonder 
that  we  are  beset  with  labor  troubles?  We  are,  indeed, 
optimists  if  we  see  no  cause  for  alarm  in  our  present  social 
conditions;  and  we  are  worse  than  fools  if  we  content  our- 
selves with  a  superficial  treatment  of  the  ills  that  afflict 
us.  Legislation  may  do  much  to  help  us  out  of  trouble, 
but  it  is  only  education  of  the  right  sort  that  can  perma- 
nently keep  us  from  ruin.  There  never  has  been  a  time 
when  we  were  more  in  need  of  soimd  education,  and  in  the 
struggle  for  existence  that  is  yet  to  come  we  shall  need  a 
better  education  than  we  conceive  of  to-day. 


THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION  2.3 

^An  educational  creed.  —  There  is  one  educational  prin- 
ciple that  is  peculiarly  American.  It  is  that  every  man, 
because  he  is  a  man  and  an  American  citizen,  should  be 
liberally  educated  so  far  as  circumstances  will  permit. 
A  man,  according  to  our  Magna  Charta,  is  entitled  to  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  The  first  business 
of  the  schools  is  to  make  life  worth  living,  liberty  worth 
striving  for,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  something  for 
which  no  man  need  be  ashamed.  We  need,  in  my  opinion, 
one  more  article  in  our  educational  creed.  It  is  this:  In 
making  a  man,  make  him  good  for  something.  It  is  a 
practice  easily  recognizable  in  the  history  of  our  universi- 
ties and  professional  schools. 

Our  future  procedure.  —  The  next  step  is  to  see  that 
the  common  man  is  equally  well  provided  for.  A  begin- 
ning has  been  made  in  the  enrichment  of  the  course  of 
study  in  our  elementary  and  high  schools,  thus  giving  a 
choice  of  studies  and  better  preparation  for  life  if  the 
pupil  knows  how  to  choose  wisely;  in  the  introduction  of 
the  natural  sciences,  manual  training,  and  the  domestic 
arts,  thus  giving  some  acquaintance  with  the  industrial 
processes  underlying  our  civihzation  if  the  subjects  be 
well  taught;  and  finally,  in  the  differentiation  of  the  school 
courses  and  school  work  whenever  the  future  vocations 
of  the  pupils  are  definitely  known,  as  in  the  negro  schools 
of  the  South,  the  county  agricultural  schools  of  Wiscon- 
sin, and  the  trade  schools  of  some  of  our  eastern  cities. 

But  all  this  is  only  a  beginning.  At  best  but  little  can 
be  done  before  the  age  of  fourteen,  but  that  little  can  be 
of  the  right  kind.  In  teaching  arithmetic  we  can  as  well 
present  problems  of  every-day  significance  as  those  which 


24  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

are  never  met  with  ouc  of  school;  in  reading  we  can  read 
that  which  is  worth  remembering;  in  history  we  can  dwell 
upon  some  events  which  are  not  political;  in  scieDce  we 
can  prepare  for  farming  as  well  as  for  college;  in  manual 
training  and  the  domestic  arts  we  can  do  in  the  small 
what  the  race  has  done  in  the  large  in  its  efforts  to  pro- 
vide food,  clothing,  and  shelter,  and  to  perfect  means  of 
communication  and  transportation.  If  nothing  else  is 
gained  from  the  elementary  school  than  a  wholesome  re- 
spect for  man's  industry,  a  good  basis  is  afforded  for 
participation  in  man's  occupations. 

The  insurance  of  democracy.  —  The  serious  preparation 
for  practical  life  begins  for  the  great  majority  of  persons 
at  the  age  of  thirteen  or  fourteen,  on  leaving  the  elemen- 
tary school.  The  most  dangerous  period  in  the  life  of  a 
boy  or  girl  lies  just  ahead  —  say  up  to  the  age  of  nineteen 
or  twenty.  This  is  the  time  when  the  average  boy  must 
learn  to  be  self-supporting,  and  when  the  girl  must  fit  her- 
self for  domestic  duties.  It  is  the  time,  too,  when  tech- 
nical training  counts  for  most.  I  contend  that  every 
American  boy  and  girl  is  entitled  to  practical  help  in  thi? 
time  of  greatest  need  —  and  at  public  expense,  too,  if  the 
state  maintains  high  schools,  universities,  and  profes- 
sional schools  for  those  who  aspire  to  leadership  in  pro- 
fessional Hfe.    My  reasons  for  this  contention  are  these: 

1.  Anything  that  will  contribute  to  the  greater  efficiency 
of  the  workman  is  a  contribution  not  only  to  his  own  well- 
being  but  to  the  wealth  of  the  nation. 

2.  Anything  that  will  lead  the  workman  to  take  more 
pride  in  his  work  tends  to  make  him  a  better  citizen  and 
a  more  conservative  member  of  society. 


THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION  25 

If  it  be  possible  to  make  each  man,  no  matter  what  his 
social  standing  may  be,  an  honest  leader  in  his  own  field, 
a  workman  who  is  not  ashamed  of  his  handiwork,  then  we 
need  fear  no  criticism  of  our  colleagues  across  the  sea,  nor 
need  we  as  an  industrial  people  fear  the  competition  in 
the  world's  markets.  More  than  that,  we  need  never  lose 
faith  in  the  righteousness  of  American  ideals  or  dread  the 
consequences  of  our  social  democracy.  If  there  be  those 
who  say  the  task  is  impossible,  I  answer  in  the  words  of 
General  Armstrong,  when  some  one  doubted  the  possi- 
bility of  negro  education,  "  What  are  Christians  for  but 
to  do  the  impossible?  " 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  TRAINING  OF  TEACHERS  FOR  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS  ^ 

THE  striking  characteristic  of  American  education 
is  the  fact  that  each  school  —  better  said,  per- 
haps, each  school  board  —  is  the  measure  of  all 
things  educational.  And  nowhere  is  this  sophistic  doc- 
trine more  apparent  than  in  the  secondary  realm.  What 
constitutes  a  secondary  school,  even  the  scope  and  pur- 
pose of  secondary  education  itself,  are  debatable  ques- 
tions. This  condition  of  affairs  is  largely  due  to  the 
radically  different  tendencies  in  the  development  of  our 
educational  system.  Part  of  it  has  come  down  from 
above  in  response  to  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  needs 
of  colonial  life;  part  of  it  has  grown  up  from  below  to  meet 
the  demands  of  an  ambitious  people  determined  to  win 
their  way  in  the  world.  These  two  forces  —  one  of  them 
essentially  aristocratic,  the  other  essentially  democratic  — 
meet  in  the  secondary  school.  The  conflict  that  results 
naturally  makes  extra  hazardous  any  attempt  to  apply 
general  principles  derived  exclusively  from  experience 
either  in  elementary  or  in  higher  education.  Dictatorial 
college  faculties  too  frequently  join  hands  with  ignorant 
demagogues  in  promoting  evil  in  place  of  good.  The 
secondary  school  is  not  merely  the  first  four  grades  of  the 
college  course,  nor  yet  is  it  the  last  four  classes  of  the 
elementary  school;  it  is  at  once  both  of  these  and  neither. 

^A  revised  reprint  from  National  Education  Association  Proceedings,  190 1,  used  by 
coiutesy  of  the  publishers. 

26 


TRAINING  TEACHERS  FOR  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS     27 

The  training  of  the  adolescent  mind  presents  problems 
unknown  in  the  primary  school;  with  the  psychological 
new  birth  another  mode  of  education  becomes  imperative. 
And  on  the  other  hand  it  is  obvious  that  the  requirements 
for  admission  to  college  do  not  exhaust  the  demands  of 
Hfe.  The  college  and  university  can  never  enjoy  a  mo- 
nopoly of  higher  education.  The  pecuHar  function  of  the 
secondary  school  is  the  selection  and  training  of  leaders 
for  intelligent  service  in  academic,  professional,  and  in- 
dustrial Hfe.  In  no  educational  work  can  there  be  greater 
need  of  teachers  fully  alive  to  the  responsibilities  resting 
upon  them;  nowhere  can  there  be  greater  need  of  teachers 
fitted  by  nature  and  training  to  discharge  their  duties 
aright. 

The  college  graduate  as  a  secondary-school  teacher. — 
It  is  only  in  these  latter  days  that  any  question  has  arisen 
concerning  the  necessary  qualifications  of  teachers  for 
secondary  schools.  So  long  as  the  only  secondary  school 
of  consequence  was  the  academy  or  college  preparatory 
school,  so  long  the  only  teacher  worth  considering  was 
the  college  graduate.  He  who  would  successfully  fit  boys 
for  college  must  himself  know  by  experience  what  the  col- 
leges demand.  Moreover,  in  those  days,  what  the  col- 
leges demanded  was  chiefly  Latin  and  Greek,  and  it  would 
have  been  idle  for  any  man  to  have  set  himself  up  as  a 
teacher  of  the  classical  languages  who  had  not  enjoyed 
the  classical  training.  But  with  the  growth  of  the  cur- 
riculum, and  especially  since  the  rise  of  the  high  school 
has  introduced  variety  not  only  in  the  subjects  of  instruc- 
tion but  in  the  purpose  of  secondary  education  as  well, 
the  former  source  of  supply  of  teachers  has  proved  inade- 


28  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

quate.  It  may  as  well  be  acknowledged,  first  as  last,  that 
the  college  graduate  of  the  last  generation  could  claim  no 
considerable  superiority  over  his  non-collegiate  competi- 
tor in  respect  either  to  special  knowledge  or  to  skill  in 
teaching  many  subjects  of  the  secondary  course.  In  fact, 
only  in  the  classical  languages  has  he  stood  imrivaled. 
In  the  modern  languages,  English,  history,  mathematics, 
and  the  natural  sciences  he  has  often  found  his  equal. 
Frequently  the  knowledge  of  the  specialist,  or  the  pro- 
fessional skill  of  the  normal-school  graduate,  has  been 
preferred  to  the  so-called  "general  culture"  of  the  collegian 
who  has  sauntered  through  the  mazes  of  an  "  elective 
course  "  with  no  suspicion  of  sound  scholarship  attaching 
to  him.  Unquestionably  the  lack  of  special  knowledge  and 
of  educational  interests  in  the  average  college  graduate 
has  had  great  weight  in  promoting  the  popular  tendency 
to  discredit  a  liberal  education  as  an  essential  pre-requisite 
to  work  in  the  secondary  schools.  We  may  deprecate 
the  situation  as  we  will,  it  is  a  fact,  nevertheless,  that 
the  college-trained  teacher  has  but  slight  advantage  in 
gaining  admission  to  the  secondary  school. 

Teaching  and  its  tangible  reward.  —  One  other  fact 
worth  consideration:  It  is  becoming  year  by  year  more 
difficult  for  college  graduates  to  find  employment  in  the 
schools  at  a  living  wage.  Granted  that  the  number  of 
positions  annually  falling  vacant  is  relatively  stationary, 
and  that  the  number  of  applicants  is  relatively  increasing, 
but  one  result  can  be  expected.  The  law  of  supply  and 
demand  forces  salaries  down.  And  in  the  majority  of 
secondary  schools  in  this  country  to-day  no  pecuniary  in- 
ducement is  offered  the  intending  teacher  to  take  a  college 


TRAINING  TEACHERS  FOR  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS    29 

course.  On  the  contrary  there  is  every  reason  —  uncer- 
tain tenure  of  oflice,  political  favoritism,  and  the  like  — 
why  the  average  teacher  should  invest  the  least  possible 
amount  of  paying  capital.  Indeed,  so  lightly  is  the 
higher  education  regarded  that  it  is  a  question  whether 
the  average  teacher  who  must  depend  on  the  average 
salary  can  afford  to  spend  the  time  and  money  necessary 
in  acquiring  the  college  degree.  If  this  be  true,  or  any-** 
where  near  the  truth,  then  secondary  education  in  America 
is  in  desperate  straits. 

A  need  for  craftsmanship.  —  The  educational  welfare 
of  the  country  obviously  demands  that  public  opinion 
recognize  a  higher  standard  of  professional  merit.  PubHc 
opinion,  however,  is  a  shrewd  judge  of  merit  of  any  kind. 
With  respect  to  teachers  as  in  other  matters,  Lincoln's 
aphorism  is  true:  "  You  can  fool  some  of  the  people  all  of 
the  time,  and  all  of  the  people  some  of  the  time,  but  you 
cannot  fool  all  of  the  people  all  of  the  time."  The  college 
graduate  has  been  carefully  weighed  these  many  years 
past,  and  too  frequently  he  has  been  found  wanting.  The 
specialist  and  the  normal-school  graduate  have  also  been 
tested  and  the  popular  verdict  is  that  they,  too,  are  poor 
craftsmen.  But  with  nothing  better  in  sight  and  with  no 
recognized  standard  of  professional  fitness,  the  school 
board  and  the  wage  they  offer  have  come  to  be  the  con- 
troUing  power.  Moreover,  it  is  evident,  I  think,  that 
this  condition  of  affairs  cannot  be  materially  changed  so 
long  as  the  chief  factors  in  the  problem  remain  the  same. 
Our  only  hope  lies  in  the  introduction  of  a  new  factor  more 
powerful  thaa  any  now  existing  —  the  professionally 
trained  teacher  specially  fitted  for  secondary  work. 


30  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

Training    secondary-school    specialists.  —  It    may    be 

argued  that  inasmuch  as  the  cost  of  a  college  education 
even  now  tends  to  exclude  the  best  material  from  the 
majority  of  schools,  no  further  expense  can  reasonably  be 
expected  by  way  of  special  preparation.  While  I  ac- 
knowledge the  strength  of  the  argument  and  fully  realize 
that  professional  standards  must  ultimately  conform  to 
economic  laws  I  must  still  insist  that  a  distinctly  good 
thing  appeals  powerfully  to  the  common  sense  of  the 
American  people.  And  if  the  American  people  see  that 
a  thing  is  worth  having  they  know  how  to  pay  for  it  with- 
out grumbhng.  The  better  class  of  secondary  schools, 
the  country  over,  pays  fair  salaries  and  insists  on  getting 
the  ablest  teachers.  The  very  fact  that  competition  for 
these  positions  is  so  disagreeably  keen  is  the  surest  guar- 
antee of  a  better  system  of  training  teachers  for  secondary 
schools.  An  annually  increasing  number  of  college  grad- 
uates learn  from  experience  that  the  best  preparation 
they  can  make  is  none  too  good  for  the  places  they  desire 
to  fill.  They  cannot  afford  to  compete,  other  things 
being  equal,  with  those  whose  preparation  has  been  less 
expensive  than  theirs;  the  only  hope  of  the  ambitious  col- 
legian is  to  put  himself  distinctly  above  his  competitors 
in  his  chosen  field.  He  must  do  as  the  business  man  does 
under  analogous  circumstances:  increase  his  capital  and 
make  ready  for  a  bigger  business.  This  is  the  oppor- 
tunity of  the  departments  of  pedagogy  and  of  the  teach- 
ers' colleges.  It  is  precisely  this  condition  of  affairs  which 
makes  possible  for  the  first  time  in  America  a  serious  con- 
sideration of  ideal  methods  of  training  teachers  for 
secondary  schools. 


TRAINING  TEACHERS  FOR  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS     3 1 

Essentials  for  teachers.  —  But  what  is  the  ideal  prep- 
aration for  such  teachers?  First  let  me  premise  that  the 
only  method  for  us  is  to  build  on  what  we  have,  meet  the 
demands  of  the  times,  while  aiming  at  something  better. 
Present  conditions  seem  to  me  to  indicate  four  qualities 
preeminently  desired  in  the  teacher:  (i)  general  knowledge, 
(2)  professional  knowledge,  (3)  special  knowledge,  and 
(4)  skill  in  teaching.  The  inability  of  the  average  teacher 
to  present  these  four  qualities  in  due  proportion  is  the 
principal  cause  of  the  prevailing  chaos  in  secondary 
education. 

An  intellectual  perspective.  —  First,  general  knowledge. 
Four  years  ago  the  Sub-Committee  of  Fifteen  reported  that 
"  The  degree  of  scholarship  required  for  secondary  teachers 
is  by  common  consent  fixed  at  a  collegiate  education.  No 
one  —  with  rare  exceptions  —  should  be  employed  to  teach 
in  a  high  school  who  has  not  this  fundamental  prepara- 
tion." Such  a  quaHfication  seems  reasonable  enough. 
The  liberal  culture  impHed  in  four  years  of  training  in 
advance  of  the  grades  to  be  taught  is  surely  not  too 
much  to  require  from  every  applicant  for  secondary  teach- 
ing. The  fact  that  the  secondary  teacher  is  to  some 
degree  a  specialist,  that  he  knows  his  subject  and  exercises 
considerable  ingenuity  in  satisfying  the  requirements 
of  college  entrance  or  some  examining  board,  is  no  indica- 
tion that  he  has  a  world- view  of  sufficient  breadth  to  justify 
him  in  attempting  the  training  of  youth  or  that  he  has  an 
understanding  of  related  studies  sufficient  to  enable  him 
to  teach  his  own  subject  in  a  scientific  manner.  The 
inspiring  influence  that  comes  from  well-developed  manhood 
or   womanhood    taught   to   view   the   subject   matter   of 


32  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

secondary  education  in  a  comparative  manner,  trained 
to  see  the  relationships  everywhere  existing  in  the  various 
spheres  of  knowledge  —  yes,  the  unity  pervading  all 
knowledge  —  is  an  influence  that  the  secondary  school 
can  ill  afford  to  neglect. 

A  knowledge  of  educational  needs  and  problems.  — 
Second,  professional  knowledge.  It  is  equally  important 
that  the  secondary  teacher  be  able  to  view  his  own  subject 
and  the  entire  course  of  instruction  in  its  relations  to  the 
child  and  to  society,  of  which  the  child  is  a  part.  A 
teacher  may  be  able  to  teach  his  subject  never  so  well, 
may  even  have  the  reputation  of  being  a  distinguished 
educator,  yet  his  life  long  be  a  teacher  of  Latin,  or  physics, 
or  history,  rather  than  a  teacher  of  children.  The  true 
educator  must  know  the  nature  of  mind;  he  must  under- 
stand the  process  of  learning,  the  formation  of  ideals, 
the  development  of  will,  and  the  growth  of  character. 
The  secondary  teacher  needs  particularly  to  know  the 
psychology  of  the  adolescent  period  —  that  stormy  period 
in  which  the  individual  first  becomes  self-conscious  and 
struggles  to  express  his  own  personality.  But  more  than 
man  as  an  individual  the  teacher  needs  to  know  the  nature 
of  man  as  a  social  being.  No  knowledge,  I  believe,  is  of 
more  worth  to  the  secondary  teacher  than  the  knowledge 
of  what  standards  of  culture  have  prevailed  in  the  past 
or  now  exist  among  various  peoples,  their  ideals  of  life, 
and  their  methods  of  training  the  young  to  assume  the 
duties  of  life.  Such  study  of  the  history  of  education  is 
more  than  a  study  of  scholastic  institutions,  of  didactic 
precepts,  or  of  the  theories  of  educationists;  it  is  Kultur- 
Geschichte  with  special  reference    to    educational    needs 


TRAINING  TEACHERS  FOR  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS    33 

and  educational  problems.  It  gives  that  unifying  view 
of  our  professional  work  without  which  it  is  idle  to  talk 
of  a  science  or  a  system  of  education;  it  prepares  the  way 
for  the  only  philosophy  of  education  which  is  worth  teach- 
ing. Under  professional  knowledge  I  should  also  include 
such  information  as  can  be  gained  from  a  study  of  school 
economy,  school  hygiene,  and  the  organization,  super- 
vision, and  management  of  schools  and  school  systems 
at  home  and  abroad.  Some  of  this  technical  knowledge 
is  indispensable  for  all  teachers;  all  that  can  be  gained  is 
not  too  much  for  those  who  will  become  leaders  in  the  field. 
But  the  least  professional  knowledge  that  should  be  deemed 
acceptable  is  an  appreciation  of  the  physical  conditions 
essential  to  success  in  school  work  and  a  thorough  under- 
standing of  psychology  and  its  applications  in  teaching, 
of  the  history  of  education  from  the  cultural  standpoint, 
and  of  the  philosophic  principles  that  determine  all 
education. 

Specialized  training.  —  The  strongest  argument  that 
can  be  urged  against  the  average  college  graduate  is  that 
he  has  nothing  to  teach.  The  argument  applies  with 
even  greater  force  to  the  normal-school  graduate,  however 
well  he  may  be  equipped  on  the  professional  side.  Neither 
liberal  culture  nor  technical  skill  can  at  all  replace  that 
solid  substratum  of  genuine  scholarship  on  which  all  true 
secondary  education  rests.  A  teacher  with  nothing  to 
teach  is  an  anomaly  that  needs  no  explanation.  And  I 
count  that  knowledge  next  to  nothing  which  must  be 
bolstered  up  by  midnight  study  to  hide  its  defects  from  a 
high-school  class.  No  one  who  knows  the  scope,  purpose, 
and  methods   of   collegiate  instruction,   no   one  familiar 

TREND   IN   ED. — 3 


34  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

with  the  work  of  the  normal  school,  will  posit  for  a  moment 
that  such  training  necessarily  gives  any  remarkable  degree 
of  special  knowledge.  I  say  this  without  any  disrespect 
either  to  the  college  or  the  normal  school;  it  is  not  the  first 
and  foremost  duty  of  either  of  these  institutions  to  turn 
out  critical  scholars  or  specialists  in  some  small  field. 
But  special  scholarship,  I  maintain,  is  an  absolute  necessity 
in  the  qualifications  for  secondary  teaching.  Without  it 
the  teacher  becomes  a  slave  to  manuals  and  textbooks; 
his  work  degenerates  into  formal  routine  with  no  life,  no 
spirit,  no  educative  power,  because  he  knows  no  better 
way;  the  victims  of  his  ignorance  rise  up  to  call  him 
anything  but  blessed,  and  take  their  revenge  as  citizens 
in  ignoring  altogether  professional  knowledge  in  the 
conduct  of  public-school  affairs  —  because  they,  too, 
know  no  better  way.  Now  as  never  before,  do  we  need  to 
emphasize  the  possession  of  special  scholarship  as  an 
essential  prerequisite  to  secondary  teaching.  It  would 
seem  that  no  argument  were  necessary  to  convince  a  Yankee 
that  there  is  virtue  in  perfect  tools,  but  somehow  the  idea 
is  abroad  that  the  perfect  tool  is  the  perfect  textbook. 
Now  is  an  opportune  time  to  convince  the  American  people 
that  it  is  "the  man  behind  the  gun,"  rather  than  the  gun 
itself,  which  counts. 

A  technic  of  teaching.  —  It  is  safe  to  say  that  no 
quaHty  is  more  earnestly  desired  in  the  teacher,  or  more 
persistently  sought  for,  than  the  technical  ability  to  teach. 
The  first  question  asked  of  an  applicant  is  not  "  Has  he 
had  a  liberal  education?"  or  "What  is  his  professional 
knowledge?"  or  "Has  he  anything  to  teach?"  but  this: 

Can  he  teach?  "    The  popular  mind  fails  to  recognize  the 


TRAINING  TEACHERS  FOR  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS     35 

interdependence  of  these  qualities,  and  failing  in  this  it 
bases  judgment  of  a  teacher's  ability  on  the  relatively 
non-essential.  Ability  to  maintain  order  in  the  classroom, 
to  get  work  out  of  his  pupils,  to  satisfy  casual  supervisors 
and  examiners,  to  keep  fine  records  and  to  mystify  parents — 
this  too  frequently  passes  for  ability  to  teach.  Hovi 
seldom,  indeed,  is  a  teacher  tested  by  his  abihty  to  get 
something  into  his  pupils,  by  his  ability  to  impart  his 
knowledge  in  a  way  that  shall  broaden  their  horizons, 
extend  their  interests,  strengthen  their  characters,  and 
rouse  within  them  the  desire  to  lead  a  pure,  noble,  unselfish 
life.  School-keeping  is  not  necessarily  school-teaching. 
The  technical  ability  to  teach  includes  both.  The  art  of 
teaching  is  mimicry,  a  dangerous  gift,  unless  it  be  founded 
on  the  science  of  teaching  which  takes  account  of  the  end 
and  means  of  education  and  the  nature  of  the  material 
to  be  taught.  School-keeping  may  be  practically  the  same 
for  all  classes  of  pupils,  but  true  teaching  must  always  vary 
with  surrounding  conditions  and  the  ends  to  be  attained. 
Graduates  of  colleges  and  normal  schools  alike  must  fail 
in  technical  skill  if  they  teach  as  they  have  been  taught. 
The  work  of  the  secondary  school  is  unique.  It  requires 
an  arrangement  and  presentation  of  the  subject  matter 
of  instruction  in  a  way  imknown  in  elementary  education 
and  unheeded  in  most  college  teaching;  it  requires  tact, 
judgment,  and  disciphnary  powers  pecuhar  to  the  manage- 
ment of  youth.  Herein  is  the  need  of  that  technical  skill 
which  is  not,  as  has  been  well  said, "  a  part  of  the  natural 
equipment  of  every  educated  person." 

Too  poor  to  afford  poor  teaching.  —  The  question  before 
us  is:  How  can  these  qualifications  best  be  secured?  There 


36  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

may  be,  however,  a  preliminary  question  which  some  will 
desire  to  have  answered:  What  is  the  relative  importance 
of  these  quahfications,  if  all  cannot  be  secured?  In  at- 
tempting an  answer,  I  am  well  aware  of  the  difficulties 
presented  by  actual  conditions  in  various  parts  of  the 
country,  even  by  conditions  which  occasionally  arise  in 
almost  any  school,  and  more  particularly  by  situations 
presented  in  the  individual  characteristics  of  teachers. 
There  are  schools  in  all  parts  of  the  country  (one  might 
almost  say,  all  schools  in  some  parts  of  the  country)  which 
think  that  they  cannot  afford  good  teachers.  To  such 
schools  I  can  only  say  that  they  are  too  poor  to  be  able 
to  afford  poor  teachers.  It  is  our  business  here  to  assert 
that  the  best  teacher  is  always  the  cheapest;  and  if  our 
influence  has  any  weight,  it  should  be  used  energetically 
wherever  it  is  proposed  to  employ  a  poor  teacher  merely 
because  the  poor  teacher  will  work  on  a  lower  salary. 

Natural  endowment  of  the  teacher.  —  The  personality 
of  the  teacher,  however,  is  another  matter.  There  are 
persons  who  might  conceivably  possess  all  of  the  quali- 
fications which  I  have  called  essential,  and  yet  be  unfit 
to  train  animals,  to  say  nothing  of  teaching  children. 
In  fact,  these  qualifications  which  I  have  enumerated 
are  really  conditioned  by  certain  universal  human  at- 
tributes which  are  prerequisite  to  the  truest  success  in  any 
vocation  in  life.  The  person  who  does  not  first  of  all 
have  high  moral  worth,  intellectual  honesty,  fertihty  of 
imaginacion,  industry,  sympathy,  tact,  and  common 
sense  can  never  become  a  good  teacher,  and  a  notable 
deficiency  in  any  of  these  attributes  will  assuredly  prevent 
a  person  from  becoming  a  great  teacher,  regardless  of 


TRAINING  TEACHERS  FOR  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS     37 

professional  training  —  the  best  that  can  be  given.  No 
one  knows  better  than  we  do  how  absolutely  essential  is 
the  right  personality  in  the  teacher.  This  knowledge, 
however,  should  not  make  us  unappreciative  of  profes- 
sional training.  The  rather  should  we  see  in  profes- 
sional training  the  means  whereby  native  impulses  are 
made  available  and  directed  systematically  toward  the 
highest  ends  of  education.  It  can  do  no  harm  for  us  to 
exalt  the  native  qualities  in  a  teacher's  equipment,  but 
it  can  do  no  good  to  overestimate  them.  School  officers 
too  often  exhibit  a  lack  of  intellectual  honesty  or  common 
sense  when  they  make  professional  qualifications  of  sec- 
ondary importance  in  the  selection  of  teachers.  From 
that  position  it  is  only  one  step  to  personal  and  partisan 
favoritism;  for  no  school  principal  or  superintendent  can 
make  a  strong  case  against  pohtical  interference  in  school 
affairs,  if  he  himself  does  not  consider  professional  training 
an  essential  article  in  his  educational  creed.  I  yield  to 
none  in  my  appreciation  of  what  is  called  "  personality  " 
in  the  teacher,  but  I  maintain  that  the  "  personal "  and  the 
"  professional ''  are  coordinate,  and  that  both  are  essential. 
To  make  the  "  personal  "  subordinate  to  the  "  professional '' 
may  be  a  sin;  but  to  subordinate  the  "  professional  "  to  the 
"  personal  "  is  a  crime. 

Selecting  a  professional  equipment.  —  What,  then,  of 
the  four  quaHfications  which  I  have  enumerated  as  essen- 
tial in  the  professional  training  of  a  secondary  teacher? 
Is  any  one  of  greater  relative  importance  than  any  other 
one?  First,  it  may  be  said  that  a  college  course  nowadays 
gives  no  assurance  of  general  knowledge.  There  is  con- 
siderable justice,  I  fear,  in  that  claim.     Our  colleges  are 


38  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

all  pretty  thoroughly  inoculated  with  the  germs  of  the 
elective  systems,  and  some  of  them  have  already  developed 
into  serious  cases.  In  fact,  it  has  become  so  epidemic 
that  it  seems  useless  longer  to  maintain  a  quarantine 
against  the  contagion.  However,  this  movement  may  not 
be  a  plague  except  to  those  who  do  not  know  how  to  take 
advantage  of  it.  It  is  true  that  never  before  has  such 
wealth  of  opportunity  been  presented  in  higher  education. 
The  list  of  courses  offered  in  our  largest  universities  is 
certainly  bewildering  to  one  who  is  in  doubt  either  of  his 
own  abilities  or  of  his  future  needs.  So  long  as  I  do  not 
know  myself,  or  what  I  shall  become,  how  can  I  choose 
intelligently  from  the  tender  made  by  a  modern  university? 
Individual  responsibility.  —  And,  from  another  stand- 
point, it  may  be  asked:  How  can  a  college  faculty  intel- 
ligently prescribe  a  curriculum  for  an  unknown  person 
bound  for  an  end  that  is  also  unknown?  It  is  the  com- 
plexity of  modern  life  that  affords  the  fullest  justification 
of  the  elective  system  in  higher  education.  But  there  is 
no  justification  for  free  election  when  a  definite  profession 
is  in  view,  nor  should  there  be  any  serious  doubt  of  what 
subjects  are  of  most  worth  in  the  training  of  a  lawyer,  a 
physician,  or  a  teacher.  And,  in  the  case  of  the  teacher, 
most  subjects  of  the  college  course  enter  into  his  profes- 
sional equipment.  They  are  in  part  the  means  and  in- 
struments which  he  must  later  employ  in  professional 
service.  Hence  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  the  collegiate 
education  of  the  secondary  teacher  should  be  general  in 
character  and  hberal  in  its  nature  and  influence.  More- 
over, it  is  not  the  duty  of  the  college  or  university  to  make 
courses  of  study  suited  to  the  needs  of  teaching  or  of  any 


TRAINING  TEACHERS  FOR  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS     39 

particular  profession;  it  is  our  business  as  teachers  to  know 
what  is  best  for  those  who  will  come  after  us,  and  it  is  our 
duty  as  a  profession  to  insist  upon  public  recognition 
of  our  claims.  In  other  words,  it  is  absurd  for  us  to 
criticize  the  college  for  not  giving  us  what  we  want  and  in 
the  way  we  want  it;  our  part  is  to  know  what  we  want  and 
to  see  to  it  that  we  get  it. 

Normal-school  limitations.  —  There  is  an  assumption  in 
what  I  have  said  that  a  college  course  is  an  integral  part 
of  the  professional  training  of  a  secondary  teacher.  After 
due  allowance  has  been  made  for  all  the  defects  of  col- 
legiate education,  it  must  still  be  acknowledged  that  there 
is  no  other  institution  which  can  more  satisfactorily 
give  the  general  knowledge  so  essential  in  a  teacher's 
equipment.  In  my  opinion,  it  is  scarcely  worth  while  to 
discuss  this  point.  Nevertheless,  the  practice  of  some 
normal  schools  warrants  the  beHef  that  a  different  con- 
clusion is  possible.  I  fail  to  see  on  what  grounds  such 
practice  can  be  defended.  A  normal  school  that  sets 
itself  up  to  train  teachers  for  secondary  schools  either 
greatly  magnifies  its  office  or  dehberately  stultifies  the 
profession  which  it  represents.  Of  course,  I  do  not  refer 
to  those  institutions  which  maintain  academic  courses 
equal  in  scope  and  quality  to  college  courses,  and  which 
provide  for  four  years  of  instruction  in  advance  of  the 
secondary  school.  A  college  degree  is  no  criterion  of 
excellence,  nor  is  it  necessary  that  the  institution  be  known 
as  a  college.  What  is  wanted  is  an  education  broad 
enough  and  Hberal  enough  to  qualify  the  teacher  to  select 
and  train  leaders  for  the  coming  generation.  Such  an 
education  surely  cannot  be  given  by  an  institution  that 


40  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

limits  its  field  to  the  needs  of  a  single  profession,  whether 
that  profession  be  dentistry,  medicine,  engineering,  or 
elementary  teaching.  Not  all  of  a  college  education 
comes  from  the  classroom;  an  important  part  of  it  comes 
from  the  associations  of  persons  with  widely  differing 
interests  and  ambitions.  A  professional  school  is  narrow- 
ing in  its  influence.  A  normal  school,  therefore,  if  true 
to  its  own  high  calling,  cannot  be  expected  to  afford  a 
liberal  education  or  to  meet  the  requirements  in  general 
knowledge  which  the  secondary  teacher  should  have. 

In  the  second  place,  no  ordinary  normal  school  can 
sufficiently  equip  the  secondary  teacher  in  special  scholar- 
ship. And  the  secondary  teacher  who  is  not  a  specialist 
is  an  elementary  teacher  who  has  mistaken  his  calling. 
I  am  well  aware  that  there  are  schools  which  expect 
teachers  to  teach  anything  and  everything,  but  unless 
such  schools  can  secure  teachers  who  are  masters  of  any- 
thing and  everything,  it  is  a  misnomer  to  call  them  sec- 
ondary schools.  The  age  of  pupils  is  no  guide  to  the  grade 
of  a  school.  If  it  were,  the  evening  schools  where  adults 
learn  their  A  B  C's  would  be  called  "  evening  univer- 
sities." It  will  be  a  glorious  day  in  American  education 
when  we  have  teachers  thoroughly  capable  of  teaching 
any  subject  in  the  secondary-school  curriculum,  but  until 
we  can  be  certain  that  such  universal  specialization  is  an 
assured  fact,  we  would  serve  our  profession  better  to  insist 
on  sound  scholarship  in  one  or  two  subjects.  As  things 
are  now  in  most  states,  it  is  a  disgrace  to  the  teaching 
profession  that  we  teachers  make  no  efforts  to  distinguish 
between  the  competent  and  the  incompetent.  We  even 
look  complacently  upon  the  efforts  of  politicians  and  law- 


TRAINING  TEACHERS  FOR  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS     4I 

makers  to  fix  the  metes  and  bounds  of  our  own  profession. 
While  it  may  not  be  proper  for  us  to  adopt  trades-union 
methods,  it  is  certainly  most  becoming  in  us  to  uphold 
the  dignity  of  our  profession  by  advocating  at  all  times 
those  standards  which  we  know  to  be  right  —  right  not 
only  for  us  as  teachers,  but  right  also  for  those  whom  we 
instruct.  And  I  know  I  am  right  when  I  say  that  the 
secondary  teacher  should  be  master  of  every  subject  which 
he  is  called  upon  to  teach.  Moreover,  I  am  convinced  that 
the  patrons  of  our  secondary  schools  will  believe  us  when  we 
say  it  honestly;  and  when  they  are  convinced,  the  means 
for  securing  such  teachers  will  promptly  be  provided. 

Finally,  we  have  to  consider  the  aim  of  the  whole  matter 
in  what  I  have  called  the  technical  qualifications  of  the 
teacher.  The  public  is  coming  to  recognize,  what  some 
of  us  have  long  known,  thai  trained  teachers  are  superior 
to  novices.  That  graduates  of  normal  schools  are  in 
demand  for  secondary-school  positions  does  credit  to  pub- 
lic opinion;  that  they  should  be  encouraged  to  accept 
such  positions  without  having  made  adequate  collegiate 
preparation  is  not  creditable  to  the  normal  schools.  The 
fact  is  that  both  collegiate  and  normal  training  are  essen- 
tial.    The  problem  is  how  to  secure  both. 

Meeting  the  emergency.  —  I  can  see  only  two  ways 
that  are  practicable.  One  way  is  to  provide  in  the  normal 
schools  a  distinct  course  to  train  college  graduates  for 
secondary  schools;  the  alternative  is  to  establish,  in  con- 
nection with  universities,  professional  schools  for  teachers. 
Either  plan  is  difiicult  of  execution.  College  graduates 
do  not  assimilate  readily  with  normal-school  students; 
and  even   if    special    courses    were    provided,    it    would 


42  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

require  a  change  in  policy  and  an  elevation  in  standards 
which  few  normal  schools  could  or  should  be  expected 
to  meet.  On  the  other  hand,  it  ought  to  be  perfectly 
clear  that  a  chair  of  pedagogy  —  even  when  it  is  called 
"  education  "  or  "  the  science  and  art  of  teaching  "  —  is  no 
adequate  substitute  for  a  professional  school  for  teachers. 
Sixty  years  ago  there  were  such  professorships  in  law, 
but  to-day  we  have  law  schools.  How  long  must  we  wait 
for  "schools  of  education"?  The  universities  must  pro- 
vide not  only  courses  in  the  history  and  philosophy  of 
education,  in  psychology,  and  its  applications  in  teaching, 
in  school  economy,  and  the  like,  but  they  must  also  provide 
for  extensive  and  thoroughgoing  practical  work.  A 
professional  school  for  teachers  is  no  more  complete  or 
adequate  without  schools  of  observation  and  practice 
than  is  a  medical  school  complete  and  adequate  without 
hospital  and  clinical  laboratory. 

So  far  as  secondary-school  work  is  concerned,  therefore, 
either  the  normal  school  must  raise  its  standards  and  pre- 
pare to  enter  a  new  field,  or  the  universities  must  deal 
with  teachers  as  honestly  and  hberally  as  they  do  with 
lawyers  and  physicians.  Personally,  I  think  the  uni- 
versities are  the  better  fitted  to  take  over  this  work,  and  it 
seems  to  me  that  they  are  making  very  satisfactory  prog- 
ress. But  there  is  chance  for  great  improvement,  and  this 
body  should  let  it  be  known  that  it  appreciates  the  gifts 
received,  but  never  ceases  praying  for  still  greater 
blessings. 

An  insurance  of  professional  advancement.  —  A  survey 
of  the  field  of  secondary  education  discloses  that  these 
four  essential  qualifications  of  the  secondary  teacber  are 


TRAINING  TEACHERS  FOR  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS     43 

everywhere  recognized  in  practice.  The  difficulty  is  that 
few  teachers  unite  them  in  due  proportion.  The  thoroughly 
trained  teacher,  trained  by  study  and  tested  by  experience, 
has  no  difficulty  in  finding  employment  or  holding  his 
place  once  he  finds  it.  Those  who  have  positions  to  fill 
are  eagerly  scanning  the  professional  horizon  and  are 
thankful  for  some  refreshing  sign,  even  though  it  is  no 
larger  than  a  man's  hand.  The  function  of  the  teachers' 
college  and  the  university  department  of  pedagogy  is  to 
establish  a  better  code  of  professional  signs  and  to  insure 
more  perfect  realization  of  professional  promise. 

The  task  of  teachers'  colleges.  —  I  am  not  of  those 
who  believe  that  legislation  is  the  only  remedy,  or  the  best 
remedy,  for  existing  evils  —  social  or  educational.  In 
face  of  the  prevailing  economic  conditions  and  with  the 
present  supply  of  secondary  teachers,  it  is  useless  to  urge 
the  enactment  of  laws  requiring  a  higher  standard  of 
academic  or  professional  qualifications.  Change  the  eco- 
nomic conditions,  or  improve  the  quality  of  professional 
preparation,  and,  I  believe,  legislation  will  follow  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course  or  be  found  altogether  unnecessary.  Nor  can 
the  economic  conditions  affecting  secondary  teachers  be 
materially  changed  until  the  public  comes  to  recognize 
that  we  have  laborers  worthy  of  a  better  hire.  In  a  word, 
the  burden  of  improving  the  condition  of  the  secondary 
teacher  in  America  rests  primarily  upon  the  colleges  and 
universities  of  America.  And  this  is  the  task  which  the 
departments  of  education  and  the  teachers'  colleges  must 
assume. 

How  is  it  being  done?  First  of  all  it  must  be  remarked 
that  by  far  the  larger  number  of  colleges  giving  courses 


44  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

in  education  seem  to  consider  the  work  in  its  non-profes- 
sional aspect.  The  science  and  art  of  education  are  re- 
garded as  subjects  for  research  and  investigation,  or  as 
means  of  liberal  culture,  akin  to  history  and  political 
science.  Such  work  has  its  place,  but  unsupported,  it 
plays  no  very  important  r6le  in  training  teachers  for  sec- 
ondary schools. 

I  find  that  the  institutions  giving  professional  courses 
in  education  for  intending  teachers  in  secondary  schools 
are  in  general  agreement  as  to  what  should  be  done, 
although  few  of  them  are  able  to  realize  their  ideals.  The 
diploma,  or  teacher's  certificate,  which  is  granted  on  the 
completion  of  a  prescribed  course,  in  the  best  colleges 
requires  as  a  rule  the  bachelor's  degree  and  a  certain  amount 
of  work  in  the  history  and  philosophy  of  education  and  in 
educational  psychology  and  practice  in  teaching. 

An  educational  code.  —  The  -best  legislation  which  can 
be  given  us  is  that  which  will  require  secondary  teachers 
to  earn  certificates  in  the  subjects  which  they  teach  and 
which  will  prohibit  their  teaching  subjects  in  which  they 
are  not  certificated. 

The  lowest  requirements  which  we  can  consistently 
make  for  such  a  diploma  or  certificate  are  as  follows: 

(i)  The  candidate  must  be  a  college  graduate,  at  least 
when  he  receives  the  diploma,  if  not  when  entering  upon  the 
course,  or  have  the  equivalent  of  a  college  education. 

(2)  He  must  satisfactorily  complete  courses  in  (a) 
the  history  of  education,  (b)  the  philosophy  of  education, 
(c)  psychology  and  its  applications  in  teaching,  and  (d) 
school  economy,  especially  school  hygiene  —  an  allotment, 
say,  of  eight  hours  a  week  throughout  one  year. 


TRAINING  TEACHERS  FOR  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS     45 

(3)  As  evidence  of  the  special  knowledge  required  in 
each  subject  in  which  a  diploma  is  sought  the  candidate 
should  be  able  to  show  the  equivalent  of  at  least  three 
years'  collegiate  study  of  that  subject  —  three  to  five 
hours  a  week.  But  whatever  be  the  requirement  in 
credit-hours,  provision  should  be  made  for  securiag  a 
sufficient  degree  of  special  scholarship  as  a  prerequisite 
to  what  I  consider  the  gateway  to  actual  teaching,  viz.: 
a  course  in  the  special  methods  of  teaching  each  subject 
elected.  Such  a  course  may  very  properly  be  conducted 
wholly  or  in  part  by  the  university  department  which  is 
responsible  for  the  academic  training  in  subject  matter. 

(4)  The  candidate  must  be  given  opportunity  to  observe 
good  teaching,  study  its  methods  under  guidance,  and 
finally  give  instruction  under  normal  conditions  long  enough 
to  demonstrate  his  abiHty  to  teach. 

This  plan  will  enable  a  thoroughly  good  college  student 
who  chooses  his  electives  wisely  to  secure  a  teacher's 
diploma  in  one  or  two  subjects,  e.  g.,  Latin  and  Greek, 
physics  and  chemistry,  at  the  same  time  that  he  gets  his 
bachelor's  degree.  For  the  college  graduate  it  provides 
a  one-year  professional  course  which  will  enable  him, 
granted  that  he  has  the  requisite  academic  preparation, 
to  secure  a  diploma  in  two  or  three  related  subjects. 

A  need  for  united  effort.  —  I  am  happy  to  say  that  the 
scheme  just  outlined  is  no  Utopian  dream;  it  is  being 
realized  wholly  or  in  part  in  several  of  our  universities. 
That  it  is  entirely  practicable  I  am  able  to  affirm  from  my 
own  experience  in  Columbia  University.  We  have  en- 
countered many  difficulties,  to  be  sure,  and  I  suspect  my 
colleagues  in  other  institutions  have  troubles  of  their  own. 


46  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

but  I  am  confident  that  if  the  plan  which  I  have  outlined 
is  one  that  should  succeed,  it  can  be  worked  out  success- 
fully in  many  places.  It  is  a  work,  however,  that  demands 
our  united  efforts. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  EXAMINATIONS  FOR 
ADMISSION  TO  COLLEGE 

EXAMINATIONS  are  presumably  means  to  an  end, 
not  an  end  in  themselves.  Their  value  will  be 
determined  by  the  service  they  render  in  the  at- 
tainment of  the  desired  ends.  In  school  work  the  interested 
parties  are  the  pupil  who  is  entitled  to  make  the  most 
of  himself,  the  teacher  whose  professional  reputation 
is  at  stake,  and  the  school  or  educational  system  which 
is  supported  directly  or  indirectly  by  the  public  for  the 
public  good. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  educational  value  of 
examinations  to  those  who  conduct  the  examinations. 
Our  daily  experience  shows  conclusively  enough  that 
success  in  life  depends  largely  upon  the  critical  acumen 
which  precedes  and  influences  judgment.  Perhaps  this 
is  one  reason  (it  is  hardly  becoming  in  me  to  make  the 
suggestion)  why  colleges  cling  so  tenaciously  to  the  privilege 
of  examining  candidates  for  admission. 

AbiUty  to  pass  examinations  an  asset.  —  But  seriously, 
it  is  good  for  a  boy  occasionally  to  have  to  pass  formal 
examinations.  He  may  some  day  want  to  be  a  civil 
servant  —  a  policeman,  a  street  sweeper,  or  a  teacher 
(this  is  not  intended  to  be  an  anticlimax)  —  and  then  he 

A  revised  reprint  from  the  School  Review,  1903,  iised  by  courtesy  of  the  pub- 
lishers. 

47 


48  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

will  be  required  to  come  to  terms  with  a  list  of  questions 
and  an  examining  board.  Moreover,  he  will  have  frequent 
use  in  life  for  the  ability  to  conceal  his  own  ignorance. 
And  when  we  consider,  in  the  words  of  Richard  Baxter, 
^^  how  very  little  it  is  that  we  know  in  comparison  to  that 
we  are  ignorant  of,"  it  will  be  seen  that  the  ability  to  veneer 
this  vast  body  of  ignorance  with  a  respectable  coating 
of  usable  information  is  an  accomplishment  not  lightly 
to  be  regarded.  It  might  also  be  mentioned  in  this  appre- 
ciation of  the  educational  value  of  examinations  {for  those 
who  are  examined)  that  there  is  nothing  more  Ukely  to 
take  the  conceit  out  of  a  fellow  than  a  try  at  a  paper  set 
by  persons  whom  he  doesn^t  know  in  a  subject  which  he 
thinks  he  does  know.  A  modern  philosopher  has  remarked  : 
^'A  reasonable  amount  of  fleas  is  good  for  a  dog;  they 
keep  him  f'm  broodin'  on  bein'  a  dog.'' 

Testing  instructional  efficiency.  —  The  topic,  as  I  under- 
stand it,  excludes  the  consideration  of  examinations  given 
in  the  course  of  instruction  for  the  purpose  of  making 
that  instruction  more  efficient.  Such  tests  as  written 
recitations,  quizzes,  term  and  final  examinations,  and  the 
like  are  of  the  greatest  value  to  the  teacher  who  is  really 
concerned  in  educating  his  pupils.  These  examinations 
are  indispensable;  they  need  no  argument  to  justify  the 
position  they  hold  in  our  scheme  of  instruction.  But 
examinations  conducted  by  outside  authorities  are  in 
another  category.  They,  too,  may  have  a  place  and  be 
valuable,  but  the  justification  must  come  from  some  other 
source. 

Valuation  of  extra-mural  tests.  —  From  the  stand- 
point of  the  pupil,  examinations  conducted  by  persons 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  EXAMINATIONS     49 

outside  the  school  are  far  and  away  more  harmful  than 
helpful.  I  grant  that  they  do  tend  to  keep  lazy  boys 
up  to  the  scratch,  to  show  the  conceited  how  little  they 
know,  to  train  the  nervous  and  scatter-brained  to  hold 
themselves  in  and  do  something  on  time:  in  short,  they 
do  help  a  boy  to  pull  himself  together  and  concentrate 
himself  on  a  task  which  requires  all  strength  and  ingenuity. 
But  what  is  it  all  worth  in  comparison  with  the  attendant 
evils?  The  tendency  to  substitute  for  high  ideals  in 
scholarship  a  mere  caricature  of  learning,  to  put  forward 
a  mechanical  process  as  the  summum  honum  of  the  school 
course,  to  replace  clear  thinking  by  guesswork,  to  regard 
the  examiner  as  a  person  to  be  satisfied  at  any  cost  — 
honestly,  if  possible;  dishonestly,  if  necessary.  Any 
scheme  that  puts  a  premium  on  success  at  a  particular 
time  or  under  peculiar  conditions,  strains  the  moral  fiber. 
It  is  certainly  good  for  moral  fiber  to  withstand  a  strain; 
but,  when  for  the  sake  of  reward  or  fear  of  failure  the 
strain  becomes  unendurable,  the  result  is  altogether  bad. 
The  recent  experience  of  an  eastern  preparatory  school 
is  by  no  means  exceptional,  save  in  the  extent  of  the 
fault  and  the  publicity  given  to  it.  The  relation  between 
candidate  and  examiner  does  not  promote  high  moral 
standards,  witness  the  need  of  proctors  and  the  imwil- 
lingness  of  boys,  even  college  students,  to  assume  the  moral 
responsibility  of  taking  examinations  without  watchers. 
The  overseers  of  a  New  England  college  have  recently 
published  the  following  criticism  of  prevailing  student 
customs: 

It  is  well  understood  that  the  student  body  in  most  colleges 
has  always  sanctioned  a  highly  artificial  code  of  morals  which 

TREND    IN  ED.  —  4 


50  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

thoughtful  men  would  repudiate  at  once  in  the  domain  of  busi- 
ness or  of  society.  This  peculiar  code,  which  tolerates  cheating 
in  examinations,  justifies  the  destruction  of  private  property  in 
the  celebration  of  athletic  victories,  encourages  boorish  manners 
and  various  forms  of  reprehensible  conduct  and  causes  strained 
relations  between  professors  and  students,  was  perhaps  a  natural 
outgrowth  of  the  inflexible  curriculum  and  the  paternal  form  of 
college  government  which  prevailed  until  comparatively  recent 
years. 

The  situation  is  a  relic  of  that  educational  barbarism 
which  assumed  no  honesty  in  the  scholar,  and  no  sympathy 
in  the  master. 

On  this  point,  therefore,  let  there  be  no  misunder- 
standing. To  the  boy  who  is  examined  by  outside  author- 
ities for  the  sake  of  personal  gain,  there  can  be  no  benefit 
worth  mentioning  which  cannot  be  secured  equally  well 
in  some  less  reprehensible  way;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
the  process  tends  to  lower  our  intellectual  and  moral 
standards,  a  fact  which,  through  long  familiarity,  we  have 
come  to  minimize  or  to  disregard  entirely. 

The  need  for  outside  examinations.  —  But,  as  I  have 
said,  there  is  a  place  for  examinations,  and  in  that  place 
they  have  a  distinct  value.  Outside  examinations  are 
imperative  whenever  the  secondary  schools  are  unable 
or  unwilling  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  meeting  the 
requirements  for  admission  to  colleges  and  universities. 
If  good  work  is  to  be  done  in  our  colleges  and  professional 
schools,  a  suitable  foundation  must  be  laid  in  the  field 
of  secondary  education.  If  the  secondary  schools  will 
not,  or  cannot,  assure  the  strength  of  that  foundation, 
then  it  is  imperative  that  the  higher  institutions  impose 
their  own  tests.     Weak  schools,  of  course,  may  be  left  out 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  EXAMINATIONS     5 1 

of  consideration.  But  why,  it  may  be  asked,  should  any 
secondary  school  refuse  to  certify  to  the  strength  of  its 
candidates,  if  it  is  capable  of  doing  so?  Several  reasons 
at  once  suggest  themselves:  lack  of  knowledge  of  what  the 
higher  education  really  demands,  modesty  in  proclaiming 
one's  own  belief,  unwillingness  to  be  tacitly  responsible  for 
work  over  which  one  has  no  control,  inabihty  to  withstand 
the  importunity  of  ambitious  parents,  adherence  to  col- 
legiate customs,  and  so  on  through  a  long  catalogue.  We 
have  all  heard  them  many  times,  and  in  many  forms,  vary- 
ing from  the  modest  excuse  to  the  utterly  imbecile  apology. 

Shifting  responsibilities.  —  So  trivial  do  some  of  the 
reasons  seem,  and  so  out  of  harmony  with  the  character 
of  the  men  who  put  them  forth,  that  I  have  concluded 
to  look  deeper  for  the  true  cause  of  the  apparent  unwil- 
lingness of  certain  secondary-school  masters  to  stand 
sponsor  for  their  scholars.  When  the  principal  of  a  large 
high  school  tells  me  that  he  has  more  important  work  to 
do  than  to  satisfy  the  crotchets  of  some  college  professor, 
I  can  see  an  obvious  reason  for  his  position,  but  when  the 
master  of  a  school  avowedly  preparatory  to  college,  and 
well  assured  of  its  patronage,  tells  me  that  he  prefers 
outside  judgment  as  to  which  of  his  pupils  shall  go  to  col- 
lege, I  am  at  a  loss  to  understand  his  meaning  without 
appeal  to  first  principles. 

English  educational  ideals.  —  The  great  public  schools 
of  England  —  Eton,  Harrow,  Rugby,  and  the  rest  — 
have  long  been  ideal  fitting  schools.  Their  ideal  is,  I 
need  hardly  say,  out-and-out  English;  it  is  not  French; 
it  is  not  German;  it  is  not  American,  but  it  is  a  t5^e  which 
finds  sympathy  and  support  everywhere. 


$2  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

An  Englishman,  high  in  the  councils  of  the  government, 
has  said: 

"  We  have  never  made  an  idol  of  intellectual  instruction  im- 
parted in  day  schools.  In  other  words,  our  great  educators  have 
upheld  the  belief  (though  we  are  far  from  having  lived  up  to  all 
that^the  belief  implies)  that  a  school  ought  to  be  something  higher 
than  a  knowledge  factory;  that  what  a  man  is  matters  a  great 
deal  more  than  what  he  knows:  That  wise  actions  involve  many 
vital  elements  besides  intellectual  attainments;  and  that  educa- 
tion, in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  is  an  atmosphere  and  a  dis- 
cipline affecting  heart  and  mind  and  body,  and  neglecting  none 
of  the  three."  ^ 
Again  he  says: 

"  We  are  in  the  habit  of  liking  our  national  life  to  be  so 
arranged  as  to  allow  as  much  freedom  as  possible  for  every 
gifted  individual  to  express  himself  according  to  his  inborn 
faculty.  This  means  that  we  prefer  untidy  freedom  to  an  immacu- 
lately neat  system  of  restraints.  We  resent  the  idea  of  pressing 
boys  or  girls  to  learn  a  great  deal  at  school.  We  believe  in  the 
value  of  a  good  deal  of  well-employed  idleness  during  early  years."  ^ 

In  other  words,  the  master  has  much  more  to  do  in  school 
than  to  give  instruction,  and  for  the  boy  there  is  a  larger 
and  more  important  life  than  the  life  of  the  classroom. 
Kipling  portrays  that  life  most  admirably  in  The  Brushwood 
Boy  in  his  description  of  Georgie  Cottar's  school  life.  We 
find  the  boy  at  first  taking  part  in  athletics;  growing 
strong  because  of  the  out-door  exercise,  and  at  the  same 
time  winning  confidence  in  himself  from  his  contact  with 
his  fellows.  Later,  he  became  head  of  the  school  and  head 
of  the  house  where  he  lived.  It  was  then  his  duty  to  keep 
order  among  seventy  boys,  and  to  preserve  the  "  tone  " 
of  the  school.     To  Georgie,  school  was  the  place  where 

i  Dr.  Sadler,  Special  Reports,  Vol.  IX,  p.  9.      -Ibid,  p.  501. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  EXAMINATIONS     53 

important  things  happened  and  where  real  situations 
arose  which  had  to  be  met  wisely;  to  him  the  school  world 
was  the  real  world.  And  the  principal  of  the  school,  the 
Head,  was  always  back  of  him,  guiding  him  by  sugges- 
tion rather  than  by  direct  advice;  bringing  him  to  realize 
that  boys  and  men  are  very  similar,  and  that  the  ability 
to  manage  the  one,  will,  when  developed,  become  the 
ability  to  direct  the  other. 

During  the  last  six  months  in  school  he  was  made 
familiar  with  the  types  of  answers  most  pleasing  to  his 
examiners,  so  that  he  might  be  passed  on  to  another 
school  which  would  more  directly  fit  him  for  taking  up 
a  work  in  the  world.  But  the  important  thing  was  that 
all  the  while,  his  character  was  gradually  being  formed 
by  contact  with  the  other  boys  and  by  the  influence  of 
his  masters.  "  He  did  not  know  that  he  bore  with  him 
from  school  and  college  a  character  worth  much  fine 
gold,  but  was  pleased  to  find  his  mess  so  kindly." 

This  little  sketch  of  Kiphng's  is,  I  believe,  the  best 
portrait  of  the  English  public  school  in  existence.  He 
puts  duty,  common  sense,  character,  in  the  foregound,  as 
the  great  ends  to  be  desired  in  education. 

The  master  as  a  righteous  judge.  —  Such  an  ideal  of 
education  as  this  demands,  indeed,  exceptional  men  as 
teachers.  They  are  men  who  cannot  be  harnessed  to  a 
system  or  hampered  by  restraints.  The  master  is  the 
school,  and  because  masters  differ,  the  schools  will  not  con- 
form to  an  accepted  norm.  A  few  succeed;  others  overreach 
themselves  and  are  lamentable  failures.  Under  such  a  sys- 
tem intellectual  attainment  ranks  as  one  aim  among  many, 
and  it  is  conceivable  that  it  may  not  always  be  the  most 


54  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

important  one.  Strength  of  character,  honesty,  integrity, 
physical  prowess,  the  ability  to  lead  one's  fellows,  cannot 
be  relegated  to  second  rank  in  any  system  of  education. 
Moreover,  the  intimacy  between  master  and  scholar  in  a 
good  home  school  —  an  intimacy  which,  in  the  course  of 
years,  ripens  into  an  affection  that  is  akin  to  parental  love  — 
make  it  extremely  difficult  for  the  teacher  to  judge  the 
boy  from  one  standpoint  only.  He  knows  him  too  well; 
his  faults  and  his  virtues  are  spread  before  him  in  an  open 
book.  To  single  out  one  attainment  on  which  to  predict 
the  future  is  to  neglect  others  which  will  surely  tell  as  time 
goes  on.  How  can  the  master,  under  such  conditions, 
be  a  righteous  judge?  So  it  happens  that  in  such  a  system 
of  education,  examinations  conducted  by  higher  author- 
ities come  easily  and  naturally  to  be  the  culmination  of 
the  school  course. 

Limitations  of  boarding  schools.  —  Say  what  we  will 
about  the  EngHsh  school  system,  we  Americans  do  believe 
in  the  best  ideals  of  English  education.  There  is  some- 
thing in  "  Tom  Brown's  School  Days  "  which  thrills  us  as 
schoolmasters  even  more  thaa  when  we  were  schoolboys. 
We  are  ready  to  say,  and  we  generally  mean  it,  that  what 
a  man  is  is  of  far  more  consequence  than  what  he  knows. 
We  believe  that  the  making  of  man  is  the  chief  end  of  school 
work,  and  we  are  not  unwilling  to  borrow  methods  from 
those  who  seem  to  be  successful  in  making  a  certain  type 
of  Englishman. 

But  notwithstanding  our  admiration  for  some  things 
in  English  education,  we  cannot  accept  all  that  the  system 
implies:  class  distinctions;  "boarding  schools  for  those 
who  are  to  be  leaders  in  Church  and  State,  day  schools  of 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  EXAMINATIONS     55 

an  inferior  sort  for  the  masses;"  separation  of  the  sexes 
whenever  possible;  interference  of  a  state  church;  low 
ideals  of  scholarship.  Some  of  those  we  regard  not  so 
much  a  fault  of  English  education  as  of  EngUsh  life,  but 
bad  teaching  is  certainly  the  work  of  poor  teachers. 

A  comparison  of  types.  —  It  has  been  remarked  that  in 
judging  a  teacher,  the  German  asks,  "  What  does  he  know?  " 
the  American,  "What  can  he  do?"  the  EngHshman,  "Is 
he  a  good  fellow?  "  Dr.  Sadler,  whose  office  in  England 
corresponds  to  that  of  the  commissioner  of  education 
in  this  country,  says  on  this  point: 

No  schoolmasters  in  the  world  lavish  more  time  and  thought 
and  strength  on  the  care  of  their  pupils  than  the  English  secondary 
schoolmasters.  On  what  may  be  called  the  pastoral  side  of  their 
office,  they  are  beyond  rivalry.  .  .  .  But  because  the  English 
secondary  schoolmaster  so  often  lives  among  his  pupils  from 
morning  to  night,  he  has  far  less  time  and  strength  to  spare  for 
professional  studies  than  has  his  continental  counterpart.  He  is 
much  more  the  friend  of  his  pupils,  and  much  fresher  in  his  sym- 
pathies with  the  interests  of  young  people.  But  he  is  far  less  of  a 
student;  as  a  rule,  is  much  less  learned;  and  is  often  a  hardened 
amateur  in  his  methods  of  teaching.  .  .  .  Clumsy,  antiquated 
methods  of  instruction  are  far  too  common  in  our  secondary 
schools.^ 

It  is  for  an  intellectual  tradition,  as  persistent  and 
congenial  as  the  ethical  tradition  which  characterizes 
the  best  EngHsh  education,  that  Dr.  Sadler  pleads: 

The  development  of  individual  intelligence  is  largely  a  question 
of  methods  of  teaching,  but  also  of  choice  of  studies.  Educational 
efficiency  of  the  best  kind  depends  on  having  small  classes;  highly 
trained  teachers;  skillful  methods  of  teaching;  not  too  many  sub- 

*  Dr.  Sadler,  Special  Reports,  Vol.  IX,  pp.  10,  11. 


56  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

jects;  the  right  order  of  subjects;  the  right  choice  of  subjects;  and 
the  avoidance  of  hurry;  of  excessive  competition,  and  of  intellectual 
overstrain.  .  .  .  The  keen  study  of  methods  by  teachers  is 
one  of  the  best  signs  of  educational  progress.  But  the  aim  should 
be,  not  to  enable  the  pupil  to  win  a  prize  or  a  scholarship  by  a  cer- 
tain time,  or  to  pass  in  some  competitive  examination  (though  I 
am  far  from  meaning  to  imply  that  all  competition  is  bad  or  that 
all  examinations  could  be  dispensed  with)  but  to  start  him  in  the 
right  way  of  learning  things  for  himself,  to  arouse  his  interest  in 
important  subjects,  and  to  give  him  a  sure  foundation  of  accurate 
and  well-directed  knowledge  Large  numbers  of  our  secondary 
schools  are  worried  by  a  superfluity  of  examinations.  It  would 
be  far  better  to  have  some  well-defined  intellectual  aim  for  each 
school,  and  to  allow  the  teachers  to  work  steadily  and  quietly 
toward  that  aim.^ 

I  have  quoted  thus  at  length  from  a  high  English  au- 
thority to  show  how  conscious  some  Englishmen  are  of 
the  great  defects  in  English  education.  His  verdict  is, 
in  a  word,  (i)  low  ideals  of  scholarship  and  (2)  bad  teach- 
ing. Both  lead  naturally  and  inevitably  to  the  curse  of 
examinations  systematized  and  conducted  by  authority 
of  the  state  or  university. 

The  American  ideal.  —  We  Americans  are,  as  Mr. 
Kipling  puts  it,  "  mixed  peoples  with  all  the  vices  of  men 
and  boys  combined."  But  along  with  the  vices  go  virtues, 
which  our  schoolmasters  steadily  keep  to  the  front.  We 
believe  in  the  doctrine  of  equal  opportunity  for  all  men, 
and  for  every  boy  and  girl  who  can  use  it  we  believe  it  an 
educational  ladder  reaching  from  the  kindergarten  to  the 
university.  That  ideal  at  least  is  not  EngHsh.  We 
believe  in  helping  each  pupil  to  make  the  most  of  his  op- 
portunities and  to  become  that  which  he  wishes  to  be, 

1  Dr.  Sadler,  Special  Reports,  Vol.  IX,  pp.  163,  164. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  EXAMINATIONS      57 

providing  his  aim  is  not  too  obviously  harmful  to  his 
fellows.  We  set  up  no  barriers,  social  or  otherwise,  to 
hamper  his  progress,  and  we  never  regard  his  career  as 
ended  until  he  is  safely  under  ground.  There  is  no  "  cul- 
mination" in  American  life  short  of  death  itself.  Our 
school  system,  therefore,  if  it  is  to  fit  for  American  life, 
can  have  no  bounds.  We  have  no  right  to  speak  of  the 
"  culmination  '^  of  a  school  course,  unless  we  mean  thereby, 
in  college  parlance,  a  "commencement."  And  least  of 
all  should  we  think  of  examinations  as  the  culmination 
of  anything  educational. 

Development  of  an  educational  organic  unity.  —  Let  us 
reason  together  about  this  thing  —  this  relic  of  educational 
barbarism.  It  comes  to  us  with  the  EngHsh  stamp  not 
yet  effaced;  it  bespeaks  a  tradition  of  poor  scholarship 
and  bad  teaching.  It  is  enforced  by  institutions  which 
are  complacent  enough  to  suppose  that  scholarships  can  be 
erected  on  a  secondary  education,  the  sole  guarantee  of 
which  is  an  examination  for  college  entrance,  or  in  lieu 
thereof,  as  was  once  remarked  in  a  meeting  of  this  asso- 
ciation, "  the  good  looks  of  "the  candidate."  Is  it  not 
more  reasonable  to  suppose  that  when  we  succeed  in 
evolving  an  American  system  of  education  —  really 
American,  I  mean,  not  a  mere  cross  or  hybrid  —  it  will  be  a 
unity,  a  system  necessarily  made  up  of  constituent  parts, 
but  so  nicely  adjusted  that  part  will  work  with  part  in 
organic  unison?  When  that  time  comes  I  venture  to  pre- 
dict we  shall  hear  nothing  of  examination  for  admission 
to  any  grade  or  to  any  school,  but  much  will  be  said  of 
examinations  for  instruction  and  promotion.  The  ele- 
mentary school  will  pass  on  its  pupils  into  the  secondary 


58  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

school,  and  the  secondary  school  will  admit  them  to 
college,  if  that  be  their  proper  aim.  Or,  more  properly 
speaking,  scholars  who  are  let  out  of  one  grade  or  school 
will  admit  themselves  to  the  grade  or  school  next  higher. 
Already  we  hear  it  said  that  graduates  of  any  good  four- 
year  high-school  course  should  find  a  college  course  open 
to  them.  I  accept  the  statement,  and  should  be  glad 
to  add  to  it  these  words  — "  without  examination  by 
college  authorities." 

A  necessary  evil.  —  But  before  these  words  can  be 
added,  the  American  public  must  see  to  it  that  the  high- 
school  course  is  really  good,  and  that  the  teachers,  in 
point  of  character,  scholarship,  and  professional  ability, 
are  really  worthy  of  the  positions  they  occupy,  and  of  the 
hire  which  they  ought  to  have.  In  the  meantime,  it  is 
our  duty  to  be  righteously  discontented  with  our  present 
schemes  of  state  inspection,  regents'  examinations,  college 
entrance  boards,  and  the  like,  knowing  them  all  to  be  dis- 
pensations of  Providence,  calculated  to  keep  us  humble, 
and  fit  us  for  a  more  blessed  state.  The  millennium  is 
not  yet  in  sight,  but  the  advance  made  in  recent  years 
in  the  matter  of  uniform  entrance  requirements,  and 
especially  in  the  estabhshment  of  the  College  Entrance 
Examination  Board,  is  most  gratifying.  While  •  we  are 
waiting,  let  us  be  honest  enough  to  confess  that  all  these 
examination  schemes  are  devices,  as  some  say,  to  impress 
upon  a  doubting  world  the  great  importance  of  certain 
indispensable  institutions  of  higher  learning,  or  the  ac- 
knowledgment, as  others  declare,  of  the  shortcomings  of 
American  secondary  schoolmasters. 

A  problem  for  solution.  —  To  sum  up :  Examinations 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  EXAMINATIONS     59 

must  have  a  place  in  every  scheme  of  instruction.  Instruc- 
tion can  proceed  only  when  the  extent  and  quality  of  the 
learner's  knowledge  is  definitely  understood.  Every  reci- 
tation, every  review,  is  such  an  examination;  further 
examinations  of  a  formal  sort  are  often  desirable  for  the 
sake  both  of  the  teacher  and  of  the  pupil.  But  such  ex- 
aminations are  given  by  teachers  within  the  school  or  school 
system  and  primarily  for  the  purpose  of  instruction. 
Examinations  by  those  outside  the  school,  especially 
when  given  for  the  purpose  of  determining  a  pupiFs 
ability  to  undertake  an  entirely  new  course  of  instruction, 
have  no  educational  value  for  the  pupil  which  cannot  be 
secured  equally  well  in  some  less  reprehensible  way.  Such 
examinations,  however,  are  practically  necessary  when 
intellectual  attainment  is  not  the  only  aim  of  school 
instruction,  and  both  necessary  and  inevitable  when  that 
instruction  is  inefficient.  Outside  examinations  are  im- 
perative whenever  the  secondary  schools  are  unable  or 
unwilhng  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  meeting  the 
requirements  for  admission  to  colleges  and  universities. 
Until  a  norm  of  secondary  instruction  is  established  and 
generally  recognized,  college  entrance  examinations  can- 
not be  dispensed  with.  The  sole  object  of  this  paper  is 
to  show  that  such  examinations  have  no  especial  educa- 
tional value  for  those  who  are  examined;  they  do  have  a 
distinct  value  in  our  school  system  and  must  be  retained 
until  some  better  plan  is  found  for  keeping  weak  schools 
up  to  grade  and  for  the  elimination  of  bad  teaching.  The 
scheme  of  college  entrance  examinations  is  altogether  a 
matter  of  temporary  expediency.  It  tests  merely  the 
candidate's  store  of  learning  and  to  some  extent  his  ability 


6o  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

to  use  that  learning;  it  does  not  measure  his  intellectual 
desires,  his  moral  strength  or  his  aesthetic  taste.  Mean- 
while it  is  our  duty  to  find  some  way  of  assuring  the  intel- 
lectual ability  which  students  must  have  on  admission  to 
college  and  at  the  same  time  of  encouraging  the  preparatory 
schools  to  emphasize  in  their  course  of  training  the  manly 
virtues  and  the  liberal  culture  which  all  men  need  in  life. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  OPPORTUNITIES  AND  RESPONSIBILITIES  OF 
PROFESSIONAL  SERVICE  ^ 

A  QUERY  and  a  criticism.  —  "  How  is  it  that  the 
United  States  can  afford  to  pay  a  half  dollar 
in  wages  when  we  pay  a  shilling,  and  yet  compete 
with  us  in  the  markets  of  the  world?  "  This  is  a  question 
that  was  addressed  to  industrial  England  by  an  Enghsh 
business  man  whose  knowledge  of  industrial  conditions 
in  three  continents  qualifies  him  as  an  expert.  When  Mr. 
Mosely  put  that  question  he  thought  the  answers  could  be 
found  in  American  education.  Accordingly,  he  invited 
a  score  or  more  of  the  leading  teachers,  ablest  scholars, 
and  keenest  investigators  of  Great  Britain  to  help  him 
study  American  schools  and  methods  of  teaching. 

What  was  the  result?  In  the  report  of  the  Mosely 
Commission  we  can  see  ourselves  as  others  see  us  —  some 
others,  at  any  rate  —  critics  who  tell  us  some  unpleasant 
truths.  These  English  experts,  to  a  man,  declare  that  it 
is  not  because  of  our  schools  that  we  succeed;  some  of 
them  insist  that  if  we  keep  up  the  pace  it  will  be  in  spite 
of  our  schools  and  schooling.  What  is  it,  then,  that  gives 
us  such  advantage  of  our  old-world  neighbors?  One 
answer  is  as  follows : 

"America's  industry  is  what  it  is  primarily  because 
of  the  boundless  energy,  the  restless  enterprise,  and  the 

'The  Commencement  Address  delivered  at  the  Alabama  Polytechnic  Institute,  1906. 

61 


62  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

capacity  for  strenuous  work  with  which  her  people  are 
endowed;  and  because  these  powers  are  stimulated  to 
action  by  the  marvelous  opportunities  for  wealth  pro- 
duction which  the  country  offers.  These  conditions  have 
determined  the  character  of  all  American  institutions  — 
the  schools  included.  The  schools  have  not  made  the 
people  what  they  are,  but  the  people,  being  what  they 
are,  have  made  the  schools." 

Moreover,  it  is  pointed  out  that  our  present  schools 
are  too  young  to  have  had  any  perceptible  influence  on 
our  industrial  activity  or  social  life.  Our  leaders  of  to-day 
were  trained  under  the  old  regime  or  have  come  to  us 
from  abroad,  some  with  good  schooling,  others  with 
little  of  any  kind.  Our  workmen,  the  best  of  them,  are 
self-trained  or  imported  ready-made.  The  only  native 
quality  that  we  apparently  have  or  exercise  is,  as  Professor 
Armstrong  says,  "  cuteness."  And  in  this  respect  school- 
ing is  of  little  account.    He  says: 

"In  point  of  fact,  American  cuteness  would  seem  to 
be  conditioned  by  environment  rather  than  by  school 
education.  The  country  was  settled  by  adventurous, 
high-minded  men;  the  adventurous  and  restless  spirits 
of  Europe  have  been  attracted  there  for  generations  past; 
the  conditions  have  always  been  such  as  to  develop  enter- 
prise and  to  stimulate  individuality  and  inventiveness: 
so  that,  during  the  whole  period  in  which  the  continent 
has  been  gradually  acquired  and  settled  on,  there  has 
been  a  constant  and  invigorating  struggle  going  on  against 
nature  in  one  form  or  another,  the  Indian  probably  having 
played  no  mean  part  in  the  education  of  the  race.  Such 
being  the  case,  it  is  important  to  remember  that  some  at 


\ 

OPPORTUNITIES  OF  PROFESSIONAL  SERVICE  6s 

least  of  these  influences  are  now  withdrawn  and  that  de- 
velopment may,  in  consequence,  be  along  different  lines 
in  future,  especially  as  the  enervating  influence  of  machinery 
is  also  coming  into  play  more  and  more." 

The  causes  of  success.  —  In  the  introduction  to  this 
report  Mr.  Mosely  discounts  some  of  the  findings  of  his 
experts.  He  points  out  that  South  Africa  is  a  land  of 
great  opportunity,  that  it  possesses  enormous  resources, 
that  it  has  been  settled  by  as  brave  a  people  as  can  be 
found  anywhere,  and  that  in  all  essential  respects  it  is 
not  unlike  the  United  States  or  any  other  new  country. 
Despite  all  this,  he  maintains.  South  Africa  has  not  be- 
gotten great  industrial  leaders  and  that  but  for  the  trained 
American  engineer  South  Africa  would  still  be  undeveloped 
and  unproductive.  He  finds  the  secret  of  American 
success,  therefore,  in  the  American  system  of  education. 

Here  are  three  reasons  given  by  keen  men  bent  on 
finding  the  causes  of  American  industrial  success:  (i)  A 
golden  opportunity  in  a  new  country  marvelously  rich 
in  natural  resources,  (2)  the  disposition  of  the  typical 
American  to  take  chances,  to  play  the  game  to  the  end 
whatever  the  odds;  and  (3)  professional  training  directed 
to  practical  ends. 

No  one  can  deny  that  these  three  causes  have  been 
potent  factors  in  all  our  past.  But  what  of  the  future? 
Is  the  opportunity  what  it  once  was?  Will  American 
shrewdness  still  find  free  scope?  Shall  we  still  have  need 
of  professional  training? 

The  period  of  rapid  development.  —  Seventy-five  years 
ago  we  had  a  population  of  17,000,000,  the  great 
West  virgin  soil,  our  forests  scarcely  touched,  our  mines 


64  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

almost  wholly  undeveloped,  our  foreign  trade  of  no  ac- 
count, few  steamships,  and  less  than  3,000  miles  of  rail- 
road. No  equal  period  in  all  history  can  at  all  compare 
with  the  two  generations  just  passed  in  the  creation  of 
wealth  and  the  exploitation  of  natural  resources.  It  has 
been  an  age  of  unparalleled  advance  in  man's  ability  to 
control  and  direct  the  forces  of  nature,  the  age  of  steam 
and  electricity.  "The  United  States  has  to-day  within 
its  borders,"  says  an  eminent  economist  (President  James), 
"  an  effective  power  in  the  engines  at  work,  far  surpassing 
the  total  possible  power  of  the  entire  population  of  the 
world  a  century  ago.  In  many  lines  of  work  one  man, 
with  the  aid  of  a  small  machine,  may  do  as  much  as  fifty 
or  a  hundred  men  could  have  done  at  the  beginning  of  the 
century.  While  in  other  departments,  owing  to  the  de- 
velopment of  the  application  of  steam  and  electricity,  one 
man  may  do  what  all  the  population  of  the  world  combined 
could  not  have  accomplished  a  hundred  years  ago." 

The  spirit  of  pioneering.  —  The  achievements  of  the 
last  century,  particularly  those  of  the  last  score  of  years, 
are  of  such  stupendous  magnitude  and  so  revolutionary 
in  character  as  to  fix  a  gulf  between  the  life  of  to-day  and 
that  which  our  ancestors  led  when  they  began  the  conquest 
of  this  new  world.  The  man  who  braved  the  dangers  of 
the  deep,  for  weeks  together,  in  a  sailing  vessel,  tossed 
about  on  an  uncharted  ocean  and  landed  upon  an  in- 
hospitable shore,  had  faith  and  fortitude  and  courage 
unknown  to  those  of  us  to-day  who  think  of  a  sea  voyage 
as  a  pleasant  relaxation  from  every-day  toil.  The  prayer 
for  the  person  going  to  sea  is  no  longer  suffused  with  the 
emotions   which   once   characterized   that   formal   appeal 


OPPORTUNITIES  OF  PROFESSIONAL  SERVICE  65 

to  the  "Eternal  God  who  alone  spreadest  out  the  heavens 
and  stillest  the  raging  of  the  sea  to  guard  the  loved  one 
from  all  danger,  from  sickness,  from  the  violence  of  enemies 
and  from  every  evil  to  which  he  may  be  exposed  and  to 
conduct  him  in  safety  to  the  haven  where  he  would  be." 

The  pioneer  who  set  out  alone  to  explore  unknown 
wilds,  or  with  wife  and  children  turned  his  face  to  the 
setting  sun  to  found  a  new  home  beyond  the  mountains, 
or  on  the  plains,  or  across  the  great  desert,  was  made  of 
sterner  stuff  than  his  descendant  who  complains  of  the 
luxuries  of  the  palace  car  and  chafes  under  the  restraint 
of  a  few  minutes  delay  in  making  schedule  time  across  the 
continent.  The  man  whose  success  calls  for  individual 
initiative,  whose  subsistence  is  gained  by  the  work  of  his 
own  hands,  whose  life  depends  upon  a  quick  eye  and  a 
sure  aim,  such  a  man  is  somehow  radically  different  from 
the  men  of  to-day.  He  belongs  to  a  by-gone  age,  to  the 
days  of  homespun  and  log  cabin  and  flintlock  —  the 
days  of  the  simple  life,  the  hardest  kind  of  living. 

The  willingness  to  take  a  chance.  —  It  is  httle  wonder 
that  the  typical  American  has  learned  to  take  chances, 
that  the  gambler's  instinct  within  him  amounts  almost  to  a 
passion,  that  on  the  thing  he  wants  he  will  stake  his  last 
dollar,  even  life  itself.  Without  this  passion  to  win  out 
or  die  in  the  attempt,  a  direct  inheritance  with  our  Anglo- 
Saxon  blood,  this  country  could  not  have  been  developed 
as  it  has.  Without  it  we  should  doubtless  be  playing  the 
r6le  of  a  South  American  republic,  or  be  like  Africa,  a 
bone  to  be  snarled  over  by  European  dogs  of  war.  As 
a  people  we  have  taken  the  chance  that  was  offered  to  us 
a  century  ago  and  we  have  played  the  game,  most  of  the 

TREND   IN   ED.  —  5 


66  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

time  with  a  lone  hand.  It  has  been  a  desperate  sort  of 
training,  this  game  with  fate  and  fortune,  but  it  has 
developed  a  type  of  civilization  such  as  the  world  has 
never  before  seen.  It  has  raised  up  men  who  have  dared 
to  harness  the  steeds  of  the  Sun  and  drive  them  abreast 
across  our  heavens  from  the  Massachusetts  Bay  to  the 
Golden  Gate,  men  who  have  burrowed  into  the  earth 
and  brought  forth  light  and  heat  and  power  that  defy 
the  limitations  of  time  and  space,  men  who  have  organized 
and  directed  commercial  enterprises  productive  of  wealth 
beyond  the  wildest  dream  of  oriental  potentate  or  of  the 
avarice  of  imperial  Rome. 

The  land  of  opportunity.  —  In  the  olden  time  men  saw 
eye  to  eye,  they  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder,  and  they 
fought  hand  to  hand.  Individual  initiative,  personal 
prowess,  reckless  daring,  and  persistent  effort  were  the 
vital  factors  in  securing  success.  These  qualities  are  still 
important,  indeed  they  are  absolutely  indispensable, 
but  in  the  future  that  awaits  the  young  American  of  to- 
day, it  is  a  different  kind  of  initiative  and  another  type  of 
prowess  that  is  needed.  The  extraordinary  increase 
of  man's  power  over  the  forces  of  nature  witnessed  in  the 
lifetime  of  those  of  us  who  are  not  yet  willing  to  be  called 
even  middle-aged,  has  revolutionized  communication  and 
bids  fair  to  put  transportation  by  steam  out  of  business. 
Who  knows  but  the  next  generation  may  see  new  methods 
of  transportation  as  far  superior  to  the  steamship  and 
railroad  as  the  telephone  and  telegraph  are  superior  to 
the  post  rider  and  letter  carrier?  Who  will  search  out 
these  undiscovered  forces  and  who  will  direct  their  use  in 
ways  beneficial   to   mankind?    Who,   indeed,   if  not   the 


OPPORTUNITIES  OF  PROFESSIONAL  SERVICE  67 

young  men,  who  are  going  forth  strong  to  battle  and  con- 
fident of  victory?  If  it  be  true  that  the  life  of  to-day  is 
far  removed  from  the  Kfe  of  yesterday,  it  is  equally  true 
that  the  man  of  to-day  far  surpasses  the  man  of  yesterday, 
surpasses  him,  I  mean,  in  abihty  to  do  simply  because 
he  has  more  power,  infinitely  more  power  in  many  ways, 
with  which  to  do  the  work  of  the  world.  The  youth  of 
to-day  have  the  hand,  the  eye,  and  the  strong  right  arm 
that  their  great-grandfathers  had,  and  I  doubt  not  could,  if 
necessary,  acquire  something  of  their  skill  and  cunning; 
they  have  inherited  their  zeal  and  indomitable  courage 
and,  if  need  were  to  arise,  would  demonstrate  it  again  as 
their  fathers  did  before  them;  they  are,  or  may  be,  all  that 
the  men  of  the  past  have  been,  but  they  are  more  —  in- 
finitely more  —  than  their  forefathers  ever  were  simply 
because  the  intervening  years  have  added  untold  wealth 
to  the  patrimony  of  every  person  who  enters  this  new 
century.  They  are  "  the  heir  of  all  the  ages,  in  the  fore- 
most files  of  time  "  and  may  be  the  possessors  of  the  best 
the  world  can  give.  The  fact  that  some  will  seize  this 
birthright  and  lead  the  way  to  new  conquests  and  enjoy 
new  triumphs  discloses  the  meaning  of  civilization.  If 
human  genius  has  increased  the  working  efficiency  of  Ger- 
many ten-  or  fifteenfold  in  two  generations,  what  may  not 
be  expected  in  young  America  in  the  next  half  century? 
"Better  fifty  years  of  Europe  than  a  cycle  of  Cathay," 
sang  the  English  poet  eighty  years  ago.  I  say  to  you 
better  fifty  years  of  America  than  anything  that  the 
world  has  to  offer.  America  still  is  the  land  of  oppor- 
tunity for  us  as  it  was  for  our  fathers  when  they  spied  it 
out  and  took  possession. 


68  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

Popular  history  records  an  age  of  stone,  succeeded  by 
ages  of  bronze  and  iron  and  gold.  But  the  age  in  which 
we  live  will  surely  go  down  in  history  as  the  age  of  power 
and  wealth.  It  is  an  age  in  which  man  has  counted  less 
as  a  mere  laborer  and  more  as  a  human  being  than  in  any 
past  time.  Increased  power  means  increased  wealth, 
and  wealth  makes  leisure  possible.  The  widespread  use  of 
machinery  on  the  farm,  for  example,  makes  it  possible 
for  the  farmer  to  gain  subsistence  with  less  expenditure 
of  time  and  labor  than  in  the  days  of  hand  power;  or  if  he 
works  diligently  and  intelligently  he  may  accumulate 
wealth  in  a  manner  not  usually  gained  by  tillers  of  the  soil. 

Science  and  natural  resources.  —  The  markets  of  the 
world  are  controlled  by  those  who  can  best  use  the  forces 
of  nature.  Danish  farmers,  I  venture  to  say,  are  no 
stronger,  no  more  diligent,  no  more  anxious  to  succeed  than 
are  New  York  or  Georgia  farmers,  and  Danish  farms  are 
naturally  no  more  productive  than  the  farms  of  New  York, 
and  far  less  fertile  than  the  best  of  the  South  or  of  the 
central  West.  But  Denmark  has  been  making  good  use 
of  trained  leaders.  When,  some  forty  years  ago,  she  saw 
depression  settling  down  on  her  agriculture  Hke  a  mist, 
she  set  about  finding  the  means  of  dispelling  it.  She  sent 
envoys  to  the  London  markets  to  find  out  what  was 
wanted;  she  established  Agricultural  Colleges  to  find  out 
new  methods  of  farming;  she  founded  scores  of  Agricultural 
Schools  accessible  to  all  farmers'  boys  and  girls;  she  sent 
out  trained  inspectors  to  advise  and  counsel  with  farmers 
on  ways  and  means  of  improving  their  output;  she  set  up 
testing  stations  where  anyone  might  ascertain  the  quality 
of    his  goods;    she    organized    cooperative    agencies    for 


OPPORTUNITIES  OF  PROFESSIONAL  SERVICE  69 

distributing  and  marketing  her  products.  The  result  is 
apparent:  Denmark  has  gained  precisely  that  which  New 
York  and  every  other  state  in  this  Union  lacks  and  some 
day  must  have  —  leadership  in  fields  to  which  modern 
science  is  applicable. 

The  age  of  democracy.  —  I  have  said  that  this  is  an  age 
of  power  and  of  wealth;  I  should  add  to  this  the  further 
characterization  that  it  is  par  excellence  the  age  of  democ- 
racy. The  use  of  machinery  driven  by  steam  and  electrical 
power  has  made  possible  great  accumulation  of  wealth 
and  has  put  the  intelligent  workman  in  possession  of 
forces  that  are  productive  far  beyond  the  productivity 
of  any  simple  pair  of  hands.  It  has  made  leisure  possible, 
as  I  have  said,  to  a  degree  unknown  in  any  previous  age. 
A  man  is  more  a  man  to-day  than  ever  before.  The 
power  that  he  can  wield  is  greater,  and  the  leisure  that  he 
can  find  after  earning  his  daily  bread  is  so  much  greater 
than  ever  before  that  we  are  confronted  with  problems 
and  situations  never  before  met  with  in  social  hfe.  Power 
of  itself  is  not  dangerous  and  wealth  is  not  dangerous, 
but  a  democracy  pledged  to  grant  to  each  individual  the 
greatest  possible  freedom  supplied  with  wealth  untold 
and  capable  of  wielding  irresistible  power,  may  become 
either  the  greatest  curse  or  the  most  signal  blessing  ever 
bestowed  upon  human  society.  No  great  nation  that  I 
know  of  has  ever  undertaken  to  grant  a  square  deal  to 
every  man;  no  one  has  ever  attempted  to  make  every 
person  fairly  intelligent  and  capable  of  using  his  powers 
in  any  way  that  seems  to  him  most  fit;  no  nation  has  ever 
pinned  its  faith  so  impHcitly  to  the  good  that  is  in  the 
common  man;  no  nation  expects  so  much  of  self-sacrifice 


yo  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

and  unselfish  devotion  from  its  leaders  in  public  and  private 
life.  The  American  Repubhc  is  still  on  trial;  it  remains 
to  be  seen  whether  a  "nation,  conceived  in  liberty,  and 
dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created 
equal     .      .      .     can  long  endure." 

Education  a  necessity.  —  The  world  offers  no  such 
opportunity  elsewhere  as  lies  just  ahead  of  the  young 
American  who  shares  Nature's  secrets  and  knows  how  to 
use  the  forces  that  Nature  suppKes.  The  leadership  of 
the  olden  time  may  have  been  dependent  upon  the  accident 
of  birth,  but  the  leadership  of  the  time  that  lies  just  ahead 
is  a  matter  of  professional  training.  One  may  grow  up 
naturally  to  be  a  leader  of  men  on  the  field,  or  in  the 
forum;  it  is  conceivable  that  great  statesmen  or  business 
men  may  yet  be  graduated  merely  from  the  "school  of 
life";  but  the  day  has  passed  when  the  great  engineer  is 
self-taught,  or  when  the  intending  physician  comes  up 
from  cleaning  the  old  doctor's  buggy  to  the  mixing  of 
pills  and  practicing  on  country  folk,  or  when  the  law 
student  attaches  himself  as  ofhce-boy  and  copyist  to  some 
law  office.  The  standard  set  to-day  for  the  engineer,  the 
physician,  and  the  lawyer  will  be  required  to-morrow  or 
the  day  after  of  the  preacher,  the  teacher,  the  farmer,  the 
statesman,  the  business  man.  Simple  operations,  even 
those  of  a  professional  character,  may  be  learned  by  obser- 
vation and  perfected  by  practice,  but  few  of  nature's 
forces  are  simple  when  followed  up.  It  requires  no  ex- 
traordinary intelligence,  for  example,  to  convert  corn  into 
pork  —  any  fairly  healthy  hog  will  do  that  if  you  give 
him  a  chance  —  but  it  requires  the  patient  research  of 
the  professional  chemist,  the  skill  of  the  engineer  and  the 


OPPORTUNITIES  OF  PROFESSIONAL  SERVICE  7 1 

practical  capacity  of  the  great  business  man  to  convert 
com  into  the  hundred  and  more  different  kinds  of  products 
now  on  our  markets,  ranging  from  Vermont  maple  syrup 
to  guncotton  and  from  glucose  to  pyroxylyn  varnishes 
and  battleship  armor. 

Advancement  of  medical  science.  —  Time  was  when 
smallpox,  diphtheria,  tuberculosis,  cholera,  and  yellow 
fever  were  regarded  as  dispensations  of  Divine  Providence, 
scourges  of  an  angry  God  which  might  well  terrify  even 
the  most  stout-hearted;  to-day,  thanks  to  the  advance  of 
medical  science,  they  have  been  shorn  of  their  terrors  and 
relegated  to  the  list  of  preventable  diseases.  Modem 
surgery,  thanks  to  methods  of  antiseptic  treatment  intro- 
duced by  Lister  and  to  the  discovery  of  anaesthesia  made 
by  one  of  our  own  American  physicians,  has  brought  into 
this  world  within  a  generation  more  genuine  thankfulness 
for  the  alleviation  of  pain  and  suffering  than  the  human  race 
since  its  creation  has  ever  had  cause  to  show.  These 
conquests  of  medical  science,  and  others  of  which  no  lay- 
man is  competent  to  speak,  are  due,  every  one  of  them,  to 
better  knowledge  of  Nature's  laws  and  to  increasing  profes- 
sional skill.  And  how  modem  it  all  is.  The  man  (Doctor 
Bowditch)  who  organized  the  first  laboratory  for  phys- 
iological research  and  microscopic  investigation  in  any 
American  medical  school  has  but  recently  retired  from 
active  service  in  Harvard  University.  In  187 1,  when  he 
began  his  teaching,  the  Harvard  Medical  School  was 
graduating  physicians  after  one  year's  hearing  of  lectures 
with  only  a  little  dissection  in  the  anatomy  course.  Think 
of  it  —  no  laboratories,  no  microscopes,  no  bacteriology, 
no  hospital  service,  in  the  foremost  University  medical 


72  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

school  of  this  country  —  and  that  in  the  lifetime  of  most 
of  my  readers. 

Growth  of  professional  schools.  —  And  how  was  it  a 
generation  ago  with  other  professional  schools;  such  as 
Schools  of  Law  for  example?  Well,  the  one  at  Columbia 
University,  under  Professor  Dwight,  was  certainly  not 
inferior  to  any  other  that  can  be  named.  It  was  then  a 
proprietary  institution  to  which  almost  anyone  who  could 
pay  the  fees  might  find  admission,  and  while  eminently 
successful  it  bore  little  resemblance  to  the  carefully  or- 
ganized, scholarly  professional  school  which  to-day 
admits  only  college  graduates.  The  schools  of  engi- 
neering, I  hardly  need  mention  here.  Fifty  years  ago 
there  were  only  three  in  this  country,  and  four-fifths  of 
all  we  have  to-day  have  been  established  in  the  last  thirty 
years.  Civil  engineering  then  comprised  practically  the 
whole  field;  mining  and  mechanic^  engineering  were  in 
their  infancy;  electrical  engineering,  sanitary  engineering, 
chemical  engineering,  and  all  the  rest  of  them  existed  then, 
if  they  had  any  existence,  only  in  the  embryonic  stage. 
As  for  our  schools  of  veterinary  medicine,  dentistry, 
agriculture,  horticulture,  and  the  like,  they  are  the  product 
chiefly  of  the  last  quarter  century.  The  professional 
training  of  elementary  teachers  has  had  a  history  of 
about  sixty  years,  but  I  have  personally  had  a  part  in 
building  up  the  first  University  professional  school  for 
teachers  in  this  country,  or,  for  that  matter,  in  the  world. 
The  dilemma  of  the  public.  —  Professional  training 
on  a  university  plane,  training  that  seeks  to  make  use 
of  and  apply  the  highest  scholarship  in  every  field  of 
scientific  research,  is  very,  very  modern.    When  I  look 


OPPORTUNITIES  OF  PROFESSIONAL  SERVICE  73 

about  me  and  see  what  has  been  accomplished  in  a  few 
short  years,  I  marvel  at  our  attainments  and  take  courage. 
When,  on  the  other  hand,  I  consider  how  far  short  we 
come  of  perfection,  how  we  fail  to  do  even  that  which 
we  could  do  if  only  we  had  more  time  for  study,  greater  skill 
in  teaching,  higher  standards  of  admission,  better  equip- 
ment in  Hbrary,  laboratory,  and  shop.  I  feel  like  be- 
rating the  pubHc  for  its  lack  of  confidence  in  professional 
ability  and  its  want  of  faith  in  professional  service.  But 
these  lapses  are  momentary.  I  know  the  world  is  full 
of  quacks  and  charlatans  whose  sole  business  is  to  prey 
upon  the  ignorant  and  to  get  money  falsely  from  those 
in  need  of  professional  service.  I  know,  too,  and  I  blush 
to  say  it,  that  there  are  those  who  have  enjoyed  the  priv- 
ileges of  professional  training,  who  have  been  for  years 
together  the  recipients  of  public  generosity  and  private 
beneficence,  who  have  taken  day  after  day  the  best  that 
devoted  teachers  can  give,  but  who  seem  to  have  no  pro- 
fessional honor  and  to  recognize  no  professional  obHgations. 
These  are  they  of  whom  the  world  has  a  right  to  ask 
for  bread  and  yet  who,  when  asked,  give  instead  a  stone. 
The  great  fraternity  of  professional  man  has  no  greater 
burden  to  bear  than  that  imposed  by  its  own  delinquent 
membership.  There  is  no  obstacle  to  professional  success 
comparable  to  that  set  up  by  men  professionally 
trained  who  lack  professional  instincts  and  professional 
honor.  What  wonder  that  the  public  finds  it  difiicult 
to  discriminate  between  the  quack  and  the  physician, 
between  the  honest  engineer  and  the  knave  who  slights 
his  job,  between  the  teacher  who  educates  and  the 
person   who   merely   gives   instruction!    The   success   of 


74  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

every  professional  leader  is  measured,  not  so  much  by 
his  material  accomplishments,  by  what  he  can  get  for 
himself,  as  by  what  he  can  do  for  others  and  the  con- 
fidence he  can  establish  in  himself.  Every  professional 
man  who  fails  to  measure  up  to  the  highest  professional 
ideals  not  only  falls  short  of  his  own  best  good  but  posi- 
tively harms  every  other  man  who  would  attain  the  best. 
No  man  can  be  a  leader  in  any  field  who  does  not  have  the 
confidence  of  those  who  should  follow  him;  no  group 
of  men  can  lead  effectively  if  some  of  them  are 
unable  or  unwilling  to  stand  the  test  of  professional 
efficiency. 

The  obligations  of  youth.  —  Standing  as  do  the  young 
people  of  America  at  the  opening  of  their  careers,  facing 
opportunities  which  no  one  before  ever  enjoyed,  equipped 
for  service  as  few  of  their  predecessors  have  been,  they 
owe  a  duty  to  their  profession  and  to  society  which  de- 
mands the  highest  endeavor.  They  are  what  they  are 
by  virtue  of  parental  devotion,  social  beneficence  and 
professional  training;  the  least  they  can  do  to  honor 
those  whose  name  they  bear  is  to  be  true  to  themselves; 
the  least  they  can  do  for  their  State  is  to  repay  its  invest- 
ment in  them  by  upholding  its  standards  of  citizenship; 
the  least  they  can  do  for  their  profession  is  to  defend 
its  honor  and  to  serve  it  with  loyalty  and  devotion. 

The  Hippocratic  oath.  —  On  every  Commencement 
Day  in  my  own  university  I  hear  the  Hippocratic  oath 
administered  to  the  graduating  class  of  our  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons.  It  never  fails  to  rouse  in  me 
the  deepest  emotions.  When  I  realize  that  for  centuries 
those  entering  the  oldest  of  our  learned  professions  have 


OPPORTUNITIES  OF  PROFESSIONAL  SERVICE  75 

sworn  directly  or  indirectly  to  discharge  those  profes- 
sional obligations  which  were  as  patent  to  the  Greeks  of 
two  thousand  years  ago  as  to  us  of  the  twentieth  century,  I 
think  I  understand  why  it  is  that  the  good  physician  is 
jealous  of  his  honor  and  how  it  comes  that  high  and  low, 
rich  and  poor,  may  appeal  to  the  good  physician  in  certain 
faith  that  to  the  best  of  his  ability  he  will  serve  them  all 
alike.    Listen  to  that  oath!^ 

"Candidates  for   the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine: 

"In  our  profession  it  is  a  custom,  established  more 
than  two  thousand  years  ago,  that  no  man  may  be  ad- 
mitted to  its  honors  who  has  not  first  expressly  taken 
upon  himself  its  obligations.  Now,  therefore,  in  behalf 
of  your  elders,  I  call  upon  you  to  take,  as  we  have  taken 
before  you,  the  oath  which  bears  the  name  of  Hippo- 
crates. The  language  in  which  our  predecessors  first 
pronounced  it  is  no  longer  spoken;  the  very  gods  whom 
they  called  to  witness  have  been  discarded;  but  still  we 
can  find  no  nobler  words  than  the  most  ancient  in  which 
to  hand  down  the  traditions  of  our  calling. 

"You  do  solemnly  swear,  each  man  by  whatever  he 
holds  most  sacred: 

"  That  you  will  be  loyal  to  the  Profession  of  Medicine 
and  just  and  generous  to  its  members; 

"  That  you  will  lead  your  lives  and  practice  your  art 
in  uprightness  and  honor; 

"That  into  whatsoever  house  you  shall  enter,  it  shall 
be  for  the  good  of  the  sick  to  the  utmost  of  your  power, 

1  Introduction,  by  J.  G.  Curtis,  M.  D.,  to  the  "  Hippocratic 
Oath,"  spoken  annually  at  the  Commencement  of  Columbia  Uni- 
versity. 


76  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

you  holding  yourselves  far  aloof  from  wrong,  from  cor- 
ruption, from  the  tempting  of  others  to  vice; 

"That  you  will  exercise  your  art  solely  for  the  cure 
of  your  patients,  and  will  give  no  drug,  perform  no  opera- 
tion, for  a  criminal  purpose,  even  if  solicited;  far  less 
suggest  it; 

"  That  whatsoever  you  shall  see  or  hear  of  the  lives  of 
men  which  is  not  fitting  to  be  spoken,  you  will  keep  in- 
violably secret. 

"These  things  do  you  swear?  Let  each  man  bow 
the  head  in  sign  of  acquiescence. 

"  And  now,  if  you  shall  be  true  to  this  your  oath,  may 
prosperity  and  good  repute  be  ever  yours;  the  opposite, 
if  you  shall  prove  yourselves  forsworn." 

Other  professions  call  for  no  such  formal  asseveration 
of  intentions.  But  I  charge  the  youth  of  America,  in  the 
name  of  those  who  have  gone  before,  in  the  name  of  all 
those  who  have  contributed  to  that  wealth  of  knowledge, 
that  store  of  custom  and  tradition,  that  accumulation  of 
spiritual  gifts,  which  are  so  freely  theirs,  in  the  name  of  all 
those  who  have  made  their  opportunity  greater  than  that 
which  they  themselves  enjoyed,  I  charge  them  to  be  men, 
good  men,  strong  men,  men  ready  to  aid  the  suffering, 
to  succor  the  weak,  and  to  uplift  the  faint-hearted,  men 
devoted  to  your  profession,  jealous  of  its  integrity,  faith- 
ful to  its  trusts  and  anxious  for  its  advancement,  men 
capable  of  leadership  in  this  new  century,  and  worthy  of 
American  citizenship,  the  finest  flower  of  advancing 
civilization. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  CALL  TO  PROFESSIONAL  SERVICE  * 

THE  choice  of  a  profession  marks  a  crisis  in  a  young 
man's  life.     It  is  the  end  of  a  period  of  irrespon- 
sible   Uving,    of    acquisition    without    purpose, 
and  of  expenditure  without  reward.     It  is  the  beginning 
of  a  period  of  self-direction  and  self-control,  of  struggle 
for  mastery,  of  devotion  to  duty  and  service  to  others. 

The  selection  of  a  calling.  —  No  wonder  that  the  yoimg 
man  —  when  I  say  "  young  man  "  I  mean  also  the  young 
woman  with  professional  aspirations  —  approaches  this 
crisis  with  strangely  conflicting  emotions.  He  is  uncertain 
of  himself.  He  has  no  means  of  knowing  whether  he  is 
physically  fit  and  temperamentally  adapted  to  meet  the 
strains  of  professional  life.  Nothing  in  his  personal 
experience  enables  him  to  judge  of  his  ability  to  excel  in  a 
particular  professional  career;  and  he  has  only  the  most 
superficial  views  of  the  duties  and  obligations  of  any  kind 
of  professional  service.  But  the  necessity  of  making 
a  Uving  drives  him  on.  He  is  attracted  by  the  prizes 
that  reward  the  successful  practitioner  and  he  longs  to 
do  something  that  will  count  in  the  estimation  of  his  fel- 
lows. His  youthful  optimism  buoys  him  up  and  he 
dreams  of  the  good  he  may  do.  The  choice  is  made 
despite  the  doubts  which  arise  and  which  occasionally 
continue  to  harass  until  he  finds  himself,  years  aftei*ward, 
in  and  through  his  professional  work. 

'  A  revised  reprint  from  the  Columbia  University  Quarterly,  December,  1908. 

77 


78  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

Since  many  of  my  readers  have  either  chosen  a  pro- 
fessional career  or  are  in  the  way  to  do  so,  I  shall  discuss 
some  aspects  of  professional  service.  I  purposely  limit 
the  scope  of  this  survey,  because  some  things  are  obvious 
to  all  who  have  eyes  to  see  what  is  going  on  about  them, 
and  because  some  things  may  safely  be  neglected  in 
addressing  an  American  audience.  Therefore,  I  shall 
say  nothing  of  the  relative  importance  of  the  professions. 
It  is  obvious  that  any  profession  has  its  advantages  and 
disadvantages  —  for  some  who  contemplate  its  exactions; 
and  that  all  are  in  need  of  the  uplift  that  comes  through 
strong  and  capable  men.  We  may  safely  neglect,  too, 
the  pecuniary  rewards  of  professional  service,  for  who  is 
not  aware  that  the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire  and  that 
in  every  profession  the  assiduous  devotee  is  assured  of  a 
decent  living?  There  is  opportunity,  abundant  oppor- 
tunity, in  every  field,  and  no  one  need  turn  aside  from  any 
preferred  course  for  fear  that  it  will  not  yield  the  neces- 
saries of  life  or  give  free  scope  to  honest  effort. 

Professional  service.  —  I  use  the  term  profession  in 
a  liberal  sense,  as  any  vocation  in  which  specialized 
knowledge  is  rationally,  ethically,  and  skillfully  applied 
in  practical  affairs.  In  this  sense  we  recognize  profes- 
sions of  engineering,  teaching,  agriculture,  architecture, 
banking,  military  affairs,  and  the  like,  as  well  as  the 
traditional  professions  of  theology,  law,  and  medicine. 
With  increasing  knowledge,  higher  ethical  standards, 
and  more  rational  practice  we  shall  some  day  have  pro- 
fessions of  merchandising,  journalism,  housekeeping, 
nursing,  pharmacy,  dentistry  —  possibly  even  a  pro- 
fession of  politics.     Some  occupations  are  debarred  from 


THE  CALL  TO  PROFESSIONAL  SERVICE  79 

the  professional  class  because  of  lack  of  scientific  attain- 
ments, others  by  want  of  an  ethical  code,  and  a  few  by 
reason  of  insufficient  technical  skill.  Conversely,  any 
profession  may  be  debased  by  practitioners  who  profess 
what  they  do  not  know,  or  cannot  do,  or  who  fail  to 
recognize  the  moral  obligations  of  their  position.  Pro- 
fessional service  impHes  the  possession  of  knowledge  and 
power  restricted  to  the  few,  but  denied  to  the  many.  It 
implies  leadership  and  bespeaks  leaders  who  are  worthy 
of  the  trust  that  the  many  should  place  in  them. 

The  function  of  the  university.  —  The  relation  of  the 
university  to  the  professions  is  clearly  apparent.  The 
function  of  such  an  institution  as  this,  indeed  its  sole 
function,  is  the  training  of  leaders.  First,  in  its  quest 
for  new  knowledge  in  every  field  and  in  its  provision  for 
giving  instruction  in  what  is  known,  the  university  dis- 
charges its  foremost  duty  to  the  professions  that  it  rep- 
resents; second,  by  formal  teaching  and  through  the 
influence  of  its  social  life  the  university  promotes  those 
ideals  of  social  conduct  which  obtain  between  man  and 
man;  finally,  in  its  professional  schools,  the  university  seeks 
to  organize  knowledge  for  professional  ends  and  to  give 
training  in  acceptable  methods  of  procedure. 

The  obligations  of  service.  —  The  man  who  chooses  a 
profession  deliberately  purposes  to  become  a  leader  of 
men.  He  takes  advantage  of  opportunities  for  study 
and  training  which  few  can  enjoy.  He  equips  himself 
for  work  in  which  he  has  few  equals  and  may  have  no 
superior.  He  professes  to  be  able  to  do  what  the  many 
wish  to  have  done  but  cannot  do  for  themselves,  and  he 
invites  the  confidence  and  support  of  those  who  lack  his 


So  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

abiKty.  The  professional  man,  therefore,  voluntarily 
assumes  obligations  which  can  be  adequately  met  only 
by  the  most  conscientious  preparation  maintained 
throughout  a  lifetime   of  devoted  service. 

The  value  of  a  liberal  education.  —  We  must  distinguish 
between  the  preparation  necessary  to  enter  upon  a  pro- 
fessional career  and  the  equipment  essential  to  the  highest 
success  in  a  particular  profession.  Time  was  when  most 
of  what  was  needed  could  be  acquired  in  professional 
practice.  The  apprentice  system  did  enable  the  beginner 
to  assimilate  the  accumulated  experience  of  his  masters 
and  to  acquaint  himself  with  the  ethical  standards  of 
his  colleagues.  When  knowledge  was  limited,  experience 
counted  for  much,  and  the  graduated  steps  in  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  novice  gave  him  that  understanding 
of  human  nature  without  which  no  one  may  aspire  to 
be  a  leader  of  men.  To-day  there  is  much  to  learn  before 
professional  work  can  be  begun.  Every  decade  sees 
scholastic  requirements  advanced  and  insisted  upon. 
The  maximum  of  to-day  is  the  minimum  of  to-morrow, 
just  because  we  are  adding  daily  to  the  knowledge  that 
honest  professional  men  must  use  in  their  practice.  The 
only  question  of  an  academic  nature  that  can  be  raised  is 
where  to  draw  the  Hne  between  what  is  essentially  prepara- 
tory and  what  can  safely  be  left  to  later  acquisition. 
There  is  no  limit  to  what  the  professional  man  needs 
short  of  the  furthermost  bounds  of  scientific  knowledge 
applicable  to  his  professional  work.  Indeed,  he  must  go 
further  than  merely  professional  needs.  He  who  would 
be  a  leader  of  men  in  any  profession  must  see  his  work 
in  its  relation  to  the  work  of  other  men,  see  it  as  a  part 


THE  CALL  TO  PROFESSIONAL  SERVICE  8 1 

of  a  greater  whole  in  which  all  things  work  together  har- 
moniously in  the  upbuilding  of  a  higher  life.  This,  I 
take  it,  is  the  justification  of  a  liberal  education  prepar- 
atory to  the  professional  course.  It  appeals  to  me  as  a 
higher  motive  than  that  of  personal  gratification  or  gen- 
eral culture.  It  means  knowledge  of  use,  directly  or 
indirectly,  in  promoting  a  better  civilization. 

The  opportunity  of  the  student.  —  The  student  who 
begins  his  professional  course  in  a  modem  university 
finds  it  a  storehouse  of  knowledge.  A  part  of  what  is 
taught  may  be  unscientific  and  much  of  it  may  be  poorly 
organized  and  inadequately  presented,  but  these  are  the 
problems  of  scholarly  research  and  university  adminis- 
tration. No  student  in  our  university  classes  need 
languish  for  lack  of  intellectual  stimulant  or  hunger 
for  substantial  mental  pabulum.  The  honest  student 
may  discover  our  defects,  but  he  will  have  no  time  for 
faultfinding.  He  will  be  too  far  on  the  road  to  discovery 
to  share  his  secrets  with  the  uninitiated.  The  most  serious 
obstacle  to  the  advancement  of  the  professional  student 
is  the  presence  in  our  classes  of  those  unable  or  unwilling 
to  keep  the  pace.  An  inscrutable  Providence,  it  may  be 
assumed,  inspires  to  professional  study  even  those  who 
are  least  capable,  but  why  they  should  be  inflicted  is  a 
mystery  understood  only  by  those  who  know  why  you 
get  measles  and  mumps  and  second  teeth.  You  may 
endure  stoically  the  blunderings  of  your  incapable  asso- 
ciates, they  will  always  be  with  you,  but  you  have  a  right 
to  resent  the  interference  of  those  who  are  able  to  keep 
step  but  refuse  to  do  it.  It  is  a  curious  commentary 
on  student  life  that  those  who  deliberately  seek  to  retard 

TREND   IN   ED.  —  6 


82  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

the  advancement  of  a  class  by  "bluffing"  the  instructor 
or  absorbing  an  undue  proportion  of  his  attention, 
should  ever  be  tolerated  by  honest  students.  It  is  per- 
haps still  more  remarkable  that  those  who  intentionally 
and  persistently  shirk  class  duties  deceive  themselves 
in  thinking  that  it  is  of  little  consequence. 

Why  such  self-deception?  Who  has  not  sized  up  every 
classmate  from  the  primary  school  on?  One  knows 
every  shirk  and  every  trickster  with  whom  one  has  been 
associated.  In  the  ordinary  course  of  events  the  asso- 
ciates of  these  defaulters  in  years  to  come  will  know 
them  as  their  associates  do  now.  Talent  and  brilliancy 
cannot  redeem  such  reputations.  Some  day  when  you 
wish  to  retain  a  lawyer  in  an  important  case  you  will 
not  turn  to  the  man,  however  brilliant  or  talented,  who 
tricked  you  in  class.  You  will  never  entrust  your  life, 
or  the  life  of  anyone  you  are  responsible  for,  to  the  care 
of  that  physician  who  undervalued  scientific  facts  and 
jumped  at  conclusions  in  the  classroom.  You  will  place 
no  confidence  in  the  business  man  who  as  fellow  student 
could  not  be  depended  on  to  do  the  fair  thing.  When 
the  crucial  time  comes  you  will  search  out  the  man  who 
knows  how  to  do  honest  work,  and  you  will  prefer  him 
for  his  straightforwardness  rather  than  for  any  other 
qualification.  Your  way  in  such  cases  is  the  way  of  the 
world.  It  is  the  penalty  —  silent,  unobstrusive,  but  no 
less  effective,  —  that  society  inflicts  on  those  who  shirk 
its  responsibiHties.  No  further  explanation  is  needed 
of  the  failure  of  some  men  to  attain  commanding  success. 

The  need  for  socialization.  —  He  who  would  be  a 
leader    in    professional    Kfe    should    understand    human 


THE  CALL  TO  PROFESSIONAL  SERVICE  83 

nature.  He  needs  an  intimate  knowledge  of  his  fellow 
men,  quick  insight  into  human  passions  and  prejudices 
and  a  sympathetic  understanding  of  man's  ambitions  and 
aspirations.  He  must  be  wiUing  to  bide  his  time  and  know 
how  to  act  when  the  right  time  comes.  In  all  his  deahngs 
he  must  exercise  tact  and  common  sense.  In  a  word, 
he  must  know  how  to  get  on  with  his  fellows. 

There  is  no  factor  in  professional  equipment  so  diffi- 
cult of  acquisition  as  this  personal  one.  We  take  it  for 
granted,  other  things  equal,  that  the  man  who  has  it  will 
succeed  and  that  without  it  failure  is  almost  certain. 
Strange  that  in  our  training  courses  we  take  no  account 
of  it.  We  seem  to  forget  that  while  we  are  born  with 
social  instincts,  we  learn  by  experience  the  traditions  of 
social  life  and  acquire  painfully  the  habits  and  customs 
of  those  among  whom  we  live.  A  man  learns  how  to  get 
on  with  his  fellows  and  how  to  lead  them  just  as  he  learns 
everything  else  worth  doing.  A  Robinson  Crusoe  exist- 
ence is  no  preparation  for  social  living. 

The  ethical  import  of  professional  service  requires  that 
the  professional  man  maintain  a  healthy  interest  in  his 
fellows.  He  may  not  divorce  himself  from  those  whom 
he  serves  or  from  his  professional  colleagues.  He  should 
not  live  to  himself  alone,  least  of  all  during  those  years 
of  preparatory  training  when  habits  are  being  fixed  and 
customs  estabHshed  for  all  one's,  later  life.  This,  I  take 
it,  is  the  justification  of  all  our  so-called  college-life,  our 
clubs  and  fraternities,  newspapers  and  periodicals,  debates 
and  athletic  sports.  We  need  them  —  the  more  the 
better,  provided  they  are  well  conducted  and  kept  within 
their  proper  sphere. 


84  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

The  value  of  college  athletics.  —  Much  has  been  said 
of  late  concerning  American  college  sports.  It  is  pointed 
out  that  relatively  few  engage  in  them,  that  they  are 
unduly  expensive,  that  they  absorb  too  much  time  and 
are  attended  by  serious  abuses,  and  that  instead  of  manly 
sports  they  have  become  games  in  which  the  determina- 
tion to  win  outweighs  all  other  considerations.  It  is  a 
pity  that  such  charges  can  be  brought  against  a  legitimate 
activity  of  student  life  and  a  greater  pity  that  our  students 
do  not  themselves  make  such  criticism  impossible. 
Despite  all  criticism,  however,  college  sports  and  athletics 
are  here  to  stay  until  something  better  is  found.  They 
afford  healthful  pastime  for  many  who  take  only  unim- 
portant parts.  There  is  variety  enough  to  hold  the 
interest  of  all  who  can  be  induced  to  cooperate  with  their 
fellows.  Note  the  list:  walking,  running,  jumping,  hurd- 
Hng,  vaulting,  throwing,  wrestling,  fencing,  boxing,  tennis, 
rowing,  lacrosse,  baseball,  basket  ball,  and  football.  Yes, 
even  football,  the  most  maligned  of  all,  is  worth  playing, 
provided  it  can  be  a  clean  sport.  I  have  no  fear  of  serious 
harm  from  a  few  bruises  and  sprains  and  broken  bones. 
All  these  will  mend.  They  are  the  price  youth  pays  for 
good  health  and  animal  spirits;  they  are  part  of  the  cost 
of  learning  how  to  get  on  with  one's  fellows,  how  to  lead 
and  be  led  in  the  practical  affairs  of  life.  The  curse  of  it 
all  is  its  taint  of  professionalism,  a  misnomer,  by  the 
way,  because  true  professionalism,  as  I  have  tried  to  show, 
is  guided  by  the  highest  ethical  motives.  The  fault 
lies  in  exaggerating  the  element  of  contest  and  in  making 
the  determination  to  win  paramount  to  all  other  con- 
siderations.    It  is  the  same  kind  of  mistake  that  some 


THE  CALL  TO  PROFESSIONAL  SERVICE  85 

college  students  and  some  college  professors  make  when 
they  consider  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  however 
valuable,  an  end  in  itself.  A  more  wholesome  view,  in 
my  opinion,  is  that  both  college  studies  and  college  sports 
are  means  to  ends,  the  chief  purpose  of  which  is  not  the 
winning  of  the  game. 

College  fellowship.  —  The  social  life  of  our  American 
colleges  is  rich  in  educational  possibilities.  I  would 
not  limit  the  activity  of  any  decent  club,  or  society,  or 
association  of  students  in  which  men  get  acquainted 
with  one  another,  learn  one  another's  strength  and  weak- 
ness, and  become  familiar  with  the  ways  of  thinking  and 
acting  that  prevail  in  student  life.  Here  they  learn  to 
give  and  take.  Under  the  stress  of  such  social  inter- 
course the  youth  restrains  his  personal  whims,  modifies 
his  family  prejudices  and  becomes  one  of  a  social  group, 
a  group  which  ought  to  be  typical  of  the  best  the  world 
has  to  offer.  If  our  college  life  falls  short  of  this  high 
ideal  it  is  due  to  the  frailties  of  human  nature  and  the 
inexperience  of  college  students. 

There  never  was  a  time  when  college  life  was  cleaner, 
freer  from  immoralities  and  youthful  excesses,  than  it  is 
to-day.  The  typical  college  student  is  honest  of  purpose, 
fair  in  his  dealings,  upright  in  his  life,  and  enthusiastic 
in  his  interests.  The  college  community  is  far  safer 
than  city  streets  or  country  villages.  Some  there  are 
in  every  community  who  transgress  the  limits  of  pro- 
priety. We  know  the  college  student  who  thinks  it  smart 
to  have  his  fling,  and  we  hear  the  excuse  that  one  must 
know  the  seamy  side  of  hfe  in  order  to  cope  with  it.  But 
the  honest  student  is  fully  aware  of  the  fallacy.     He  knows 


86  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

that  in  order  to  cope  with  snakes  he  doesn't  need  to  crawl 
on  his  belly.  The  man  who  debases  himself  can  offer 
no  excuse  for  it  save  that  of  selfish  gratification. 

University  ideals.  —  If  university  studies  afford  the 
substantial  materials  out  of  which  the  professional  man 
carves  his  career,  it  is  equally  true  that  his  college  life 
is  the  medium  in  which  he  develops  his  standards  of 
personal  worth.  The  professional  school  seeks  to  organ- 
ize the  scientific  knowledge  within  a  particular  field  and 
to  adapt  it  to  practical  ends.  The  way  in  which  this 
is  done,  the  character  of  the  instruction,  the  spirit  of  the 
instructors  and  the  tone  of  the  place  determine  in  a  large 
measure  the  ethical  as  well  as  the  scientific  status  of  the 
school.  Careful,  exact,  conscientious  workers  are  not 
trained  by  teachers  who  are  indifferent  to  scientific  accuracy 
in  the  classroom  and  unresponsive  to  the  claims  of  the 
profession  they  represent.  On  the  other  hand,  we  ap- 
preciate the  inspiring  uplift  of  the  great  teacher  —  the 
man  who  through  devotion  to  his  subject  leads  his  students 
to  a  clearer  vision  of  the  truth  as  he  sees  it  and  rouses 
within  them  the  ambition  to  give  equally  noble  service. 
But  however  great  the  skill  and  inspiring  the  presence 
of  teachers  in  a  professional  school,  they  cannot  supply 
all  the  training  that  a  professional  school  should  give; 
they  cannot  give  that  which  students  should  give  to 
each  other.  Just  as  college  life  furnishes  the  means 
of  quickening  the  social  and  civic  conscience  of  college 
students,  so,  the  professional  school  needs  a  life  of  its  own 
for  the  promotion  of  professional  ethics  and  the  develop- 
ment of  professional  morals.  The  student  of  law  should 
enter  upon  his  life  work  not  only  familiar  with  legal  facts 


THE  CALL  TO  PROFESSIONAL  SERVICE         87 

and  procedure  but  also  helped  by  his  fellows  to  appreciate 
his  position  as  the  peacemaker  of  society.  The  teacher 
should  go  out  not  merely  grounded  in  the  subjects  he  will 
teach  and  skilled  in  giving  instruction,  but  also  eager  to 
serve  society  in  the  way  that  he  knows  others  of  his  fellows 
can  and  will  serve  it.  The  engineer  who  makes  rail- 
roads, builds  bridges,  devises  and  operates  machines, 
constructs  canals  and  aqueducts,  and  directs  great  indus- 
trial plants  should  somehow  come  to  realize  that  his 
chief  end  is  not  the  making  or  saving  of  money  for  himself, 
or  for  anyone  else,  but  that  he  is  a  responsible  factor  in  the 
present  industrial  order  for  the  betterment  of  social 
conditions.  Is  he  likely  to  get  that  notion  in  his  active 
career,  urged  on,  as  he  is  sure  to  be,  by  business  com- 
petition and  the  thirst  for  gain?  Will  the  solemn  promise 
of  the  medical  graduate  to  observe  the  vows  of  the  Hippo- 
cratic  oath  be  of  much  avail  if  during  the  years  of  his 
preparation  the  full  import  of  that  historic  formula  is 
not  borne  in  upon  him  by  all  the  force  of  example  in  his 
daily  intercourse  with  teacher  and  fellow  student? 

Ethics  of  the  profession.  —  Great  as  is  the  need  of 
scientific  attainment  in  every  profession,  there  is  even 
greater  need  of  moral  responsibihty.  We  want  lawyers, 
physicians,  teachers,  engineers,  business  men,  who  not 
only  know  how  to  do  things  but  who  will  also  insist  on 
doing  them  right  —  men  who,  conscious  of  their  ability 
as  leaders,  are  jealous  of  their  professional  honor  —  men 
who  will  readily  sacrifice  personal  gain  to  uphold  the 
dictates  of  conscience  in  their  professional  service.  The 
professional  school  is  the  place  above  all  others  where 
such  ideals  can  be  impressed  upon  young  men.     There 


88  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

is  no  time  in  life  when  men  are  so  susceptible  to  generous 
impulse  and  no  place  where  so  many  can  be  influenced 
at  once.  But,  as  I  have  already  said,  it  is  not  the  work 
of  teachers  and  faculty  alone;  it  is  preeminently  the 
result  of  the  interaction  and  interrelation  of  students 
engrossed  in  a  common  undertaking  and  stirred  by  a 
common  ambition  to  make  their  lives  count  for  most. 
The  duty  of  the  student  is  to  join  hands  with  teachers 
and  fellow  students  in  making  these  years  of  professional 
study  also  years  of  growth  into  professional  stature. 
The  life  outside  of  class  can  be  so  ordered  as  to  reinforce 
and  supplement  the  instruction  received.  It  is  serious 
work  to  which  the  student  puts  his  hand  and  he  will  be 
held  strictly  responsible  both  by  his  own  conscience  and 
by  the  judgment  of  his  fellow  men  for  the  way  he  per- 
forms this  task. 

The  inspiration  of  professional  service.  —  The  call  to 
professional  service  comes  to  young  men  in  the  form  of 
imperious  command.  If  it  were  the  call  to  arms  in  the 
defense  of  country  they  would  respond  by  tens  and  hun- 
dreds, and  not  one  would  falter  whithersoever  duty  led. 
This  call  to  service  which  I  voice  comes  from  fellow  country- 
men who  are  engaged  in  that  everlasting  war  with  sin 
and  ignorance  and  greed  and  selfish  ambition.  They 
call  on  us  to  equip  ourselves  for  leadership  and  they  con- 
fidently expect  us  to  stand  forth  when  the  time  comes, 
fully  prepared  to  merit  the  confidence  they  would  place 
in  us.  They  have  put  at  our  command  all  the  resources 
of  the  universities  which  bring  to  us  the  wisdom  of  the 
ages  and  line  us  up  with  the  great  men  who  have  preceded 
us.     It  is  an  inspiring  company  of  leaders  in  statecraft, 


THE  CALL  TO  PROFESSIONAL  SERVICE  89 

theology,  law,  medicine,  business,  engineering,  and  in 
all  arts  and  sciences  of  every  field.  No  one  of  those 
whom  we  to-day  call  great,  no  one  whose  life  we  would 
set  up  as  a  measure  of  our  own,  has  failed  to  respond  to 
that  appeal  in  the  cause  of  righteousness  which  comes  to 
all  in  the  call  to  professional  service. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  LIFE  * 

THE  American  school  is  under  fire  —  it  is  always 
under  fire.  Just  now  it  is  said  that  its  cur- 
riculum is  overloaded  with  fads  and  frills  which 
burden  the  child  and  hamper  his  training  in  subjects 
essential  to  his  success  in  life.  Public  opinion  is  critical 
of  a  system  which  makes  easy  the  advancement  of  a  few 
to  positions  of  commanding  influence,  but  which  provides 
no  vocational  training  for  the  many  who  cannot  afford 
to  remain  in  school  beyond  the  elementary  grades.  The 
demand  is  for  equality  of  opportunity  in  education  without 
regard  to  social  rank  or  wealth  or  any  special  privilege, 
that  kind  of  equality  which  enables  one  to  become  a  good 
American  citizen,  and  which,  as  I  understand  it,  is  estab- 
lished on  the  abihty  to  earn  a  decent  livelihood  and  the 
determination  to  make  one's  life  worth  the  living. 

The  motor  element  in  learning.  —  The  instruction 
given  in  our  public  schools  is  chiefly  of  two  kinds:  (i) 
humanistic,  including  language  and  literature,  history 
and  civics,  and  the  fine  arts;  and  (2)  scientific,  including 
mathematics,  geography,  physics,  chemistry,  and  biology. 
Our  schools  also  provide  for  training  in  the  practical 
arts  which  are  required  in  the  study  of  these  subjects, 
preeminently  the  arts  of  reading,  writing,  singing,  and 
drawing.     Of  late  years  the  attention  given  to  hygiene 

1 A  revised  reprint  from  the  Educational  Review,  December,  1909,  used  by  courtesy 
of  the  publishers. 

90 


THE  SCHOOL  AISTD  INDUSTRIAL  LIFE  9 1 

has  begotten  systematic  training  in  gymnastics  and 
athletic  games.  Our  school  work,  however,  is  bookish, 
a  term  of  reproach  with  some,  but  properly  understood 
it  stands  above  criticism.  That  which  is  worth  knowing 
about  human  progress  is  for  the  most  part  coutained  in 
books.  The  scientific  studies,  as  well  as  the  humanistic, 
have  been  recorded  in  books;  indeed,  it  would  hardly 
be  creditable  to  our  civiHzation  if  the  achievements  of 
one  generation  were  not  made  available  for  the  genera- 
tions that  follow  after.  And  what  form  is  more  endur- 
ing, what  form  more  available,  than  the  writing  which 
may  be  read  by  all  who  are  willing  to  master  the  con- 
ventional arts  confirmed  by  use  and  tradition?  If  our 
schools  are  culpably  bookish,  it  is  because  our  teachers 
misuse  the  book  and  confound  methods  of  teaching  with 
the  acquisition  of  knowledge.  Given  something  to  learn, 
whether  contained  in  a  book  or  not,  it  is  the  teacher's 
business  to  see  that  the  learner  approaches  his  task  in 
such  a  way  as  to  make  his  progress  certain  and  the  re- 
sults secure.  If  motor  expression  will  help  ease  the  way 
or  better  define  the  end,  the  good  teacher  will  surely 
use  it.  And  one  should  know  that  reading,  writing, 
and  singing  are  as  truly  means  of  motor  expression  as 
drawing  or  dancing  or  handiwork.  In  so  far,  therefore, 
as  the  aim  of  learning  is  to  acquire  knowledge,  there  is 
no  good  reason  for  spending  an  hour  in  manipulation 
when  the  fact  may  be  as  well  taught  without  it  in  a 
minute.  On  the  other  hand,  the  fact  which  calls  for  motor 
expression  and  the  process  which  demands  technical 
skill,  may  never  be  acquired  in  their  completeness  with- 
out persistent  drill.     But  drill  for  the  sake  of  technical 


92  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATIOJj 

skill  is  one  thing;  motor  expression  for  the  sake  of  clari- 
fying, strengthening,  and  assimilating  knowledge  is  an- 
other thing.  To  learn  by  doing  is  well  enough,  if  there 
is  no  better  way;  to  do,  without  learning  from  it,  is  to 
drop  to  the  level  of  the  brute,  a  travesty  on  pedagogical 
insight. 

Manual  training  in  school  curricula.  —  The  significance 
of  motor  expression  in  the  learning  process  came  to  con- 
scious aess  in  our  schools  only  a  generation  ago;  indeed, 
we  are  only  now  becoming  alive  to  its  place  and  possi- 
bilities. Some  got  the  notion  at  first  that  there  was  a 
magical  charm  in  the  training  of  hand  and  eye.  Manual 
training  was  heralded  as  the  remedy  for  all  defects  of 
vision,  mental  and  physical,  and  the  claim  was  made  that 
in  whittling  paper-knives  out  of  wood  the  boy  was  really 
shaping  his  own  character.  To  follow  exactly  the  speci- 
fications of  a  blue-print  drawing  was  thought  to  be  the 
surest  way  of  bringing  home  the  lessons  of  honesty,  sobriety, 
and  truthfulness.  Until  within  ten  years,  manual  train- 
ing was  defended  by  its  over-zealous  advocates  on  the 
grounds  of  its  value  as  a  mental  and  moral  discipline. 
It  is  difficult  for  us  to  see,  even  after  the  lapse  of  so  few 
years,  why  such  great  worth  was  imputed  to  manual 
dexterity  and  so  little  value  attached  to  good  reading 
or  legible  writing  or  correct  translation. 

It  is  past  our  comprehension,  even  now,  how  anyone 
could  have  supposed  that  mere  doing  could  rank  in  educa- 
tional value  with  the  doing  of  something  worth  while. 
The  fact  is,  of  course,  that  no  one  really  thought,  regardless 
of  what  may  have  been  said,  that  making  nothing  and 
making  something  were  one  and  the  same.    The  early 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  LIFE  93 

projects  in  manual  training  may  seem  to  us  trivial,  but 
their  value  is  not  to  be  reckoned  in  terms  of  accomplish- 
ment, but  rather  in  terms  of  effort.  They  represent  an 
effort  to  secure  at  any  cost  the  motor  expression  demanded 
by  child  nature.  If  the  teacher  of  the  humanities  and  the 
sciences  would  not  employ  it  intelligently,  here  was  a 
group  of  enthusiasts  who  would  use  it  anyway,  unintel- 
ligently,  if  necessary.  Public  opinion,  not  always  a  safe 
pedagogical  guide,  supported  them,  and  the  result  is  a  place 
in  the  curriculum  for  a  subject  which  few  know  how  to 
teach  and  which  perhaps  no  one  should  teach  in  the  way  at 
first  proposed. 

In  supporting  the  demand  for  manual  training  in  the 
industrial  and  household  arts,  public  opinion  outran  the 
educational  theorists.  Fathers  and  mothers  care  relatively 
little  for  formal  discipHne  of  any  kind.  They  want  tan- 
gible results.  They  want  their  children  to  be  able  to 
read,  write,  and  reckon.  Some  go  so  far  as  to  ask  for 
an  appreciation  of  good  Hterature  and  the  fine  arts,  and  a 
working  knowledge  of  history,  civics,  and  the  sciences, 
but  such  are  always  in  the  minority.  The  one  thing 
that  every  parent  wants,  the  one  thing  that  gives  him 
most  anxious  thought,  is  how  best  to  make  his  child 
self-supporting.  In  manual  training  he  sees  a  chance  to 
develop  that  skill  of  hand  required  by  the  craftsman; 
in  the  technical  processes  he  discovers  a  likeness  to  the 
processes  with  which  he  is  acquainted  in  the  home  or 
in  the  industrial  world.  The  study  promises  material 
reward  and  he  seizes  the  chance  to  turn  it  to  account  in 
the  vocational  training  of  his  child. 

The  development  of  applied  design.  —  Manual  train- 


94  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

ing  in  some  form  is  here  to  stay.  The  teacher  needs  it  in 
teaching  not  one  subject,  but  most  subjects;  the  public 
demands  it  because  it  offers  the  most  obvious  means  of 
beginning  the  training  for  vocational  life.  Under  the 
combined  influence  of  pedagogical  needs  and  public 
demands,  the  content  of  our  manual  training  courses 
has  been  radically  changed  within  the  past  decade.  In 
the  effort  to  give  free  expression  to  the  child,  all  manner 
of  projects  have  been  carried  out  through  handwork. 
Woolly  sheep  have  sported  with  polar  bears  under  fir 
trees  set  in  a  desert  of  sand.  Bookbinding  and  block 
houses,  Indian  war  bonnets  and  water  wheels,  inkwells 
and  Navajo  blankets,  bent  iron  jimcracks  and  raffia 
baskets,  book  shelves  and  dolls'  clothes,  broom  holders 
and  picture  frames  —  all  these  and  a  thousand  more 
mixed  up  in  indescribable  confusion!  Is  it  any  wonder 
that  someone  should  raise  the  cry  of  fads  and  frills?  The 
wonder  is  that  anyone  should  try  to  justify  such  work  in 
school  on  any  ground  other  than  mere  recreation.  Absurd 
as  it  may  seem  when  one  reads  over  a  list  of  manual  proj- 
ects actually  put  before  our  children  in  school,  there  has 
been  consistent  progress  along  two  lines:  (i)  in  the  usable- 
ness  of  the  completed  article,  and  (2)  in  the  design  and 
artistic  finish  given  to  it.  The  difficulty  of  children's 
making  really  usable  things  contrasted  with  the  ease 
of  executing  artistic  design  has  largely  changed  the  char- 
acter of  manual  training  within  the  past  ten  years.  In 
fact,  manual  training  to-day  is  Httle  more  than  applied 
design.  In  this  respect  it  is  quite  worth  while.  It  is  the 
best  thing  that  has  come  into  our  schools  in  recent  years, 
and  we  cannot  afford  to  lose  it. 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  LIFE  95 

Manual  training  as  applied  design  is  a  subject  quite 
different  from  the  sloyd  and  formal  projects  of  twenty 
years  ago.  If  manual  discipline  is  no  longer  wanted  for 
itself,  one  may  ask  why  the  term  manual  training  should 
be  retained.  Why  not  combine  with  drawing  and  call  it 
all  "  art  "  or  "  applied  design?  "  Another  question  —  Why 
should  we  have  distinct  courses  in  the  household  arts  in 
the  lower  grades  of  the  elementary  schools?  The  work 
done  in  these  lines  is  either  applied  design  or  training  in 
the  technic  of  housewifery.  This  consideration  raises 
another  question:  What  is  the  place  of  vocational  training 
in  the  elementary  school? 

School  levels  and  specialization.  —  One  characteristic 
of  the  American  school  system  is  apparently  fixed.  The 
work  of  the  first  six  years  of  the  elementary  school  is 
fundamental,  the  same  for  all  regardless  of  sex  or  future 
occupation.  Six  years  of  schooling  is  the  usual  legal 
requirement,  and  there  is  a  consensus  of  opinion  that 
specialization  should  not  begin  before  the  twelfth  or 
thirteenth  year  of  age.  Some  would  defer  it  two  years  or 
more,  but  the  number  of  children  leaving  school  at  or 
before  the  end  of  the  sixth  grade  warrants  the  attempt 
to  make  the  work  of  the  first  six  years  of  the  elementary 
course  complete  in  itself,  and  as  comprehensive  as  pos- 
sible. Such  a  course  should  be  cultural  in  the  best  sense, 
a  course  calculated  to  put  the  child  in  possession  of  his 
inheritance  as  a  human  being  and  fit  him  to  enter  upon 
whatever  work  may  be  expected  of  him  in  the  years  im- 
mediately following.  With  six  years  of  good  funda- 
mental training,  the  child  is  ready  at  thirteen  or  fourteen 
to  look  forward  to  his  life  work.     The  physiological  age 


g6  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

suggests  differentiation  for  the  sexes.  For  those  who  go 
to  college,  it  is  time  to  begin  specialization  along  academic 
lines;  for  those  who  are  to  become  artizans  or  farmers, 
or  tradesmen,  as  soon  as  possible,  it  is  time  to  begin  voca- 
tional training.  Specialization  at  the  age  of  twelve  to 
fourteen  years  should  begin  gradually,  and  in  the  voca- 
tional lines  it  should  be  essentially  preparatory  to  the 
later  years  of  trade  school  or  apprentice  training.  My 
point  is  that  when  the  boy  or  girl  hears  the  call  of  voca- 
tional life,  specialization  should  begin  and  gradually  narrow 
into  technical  training  for  specific  occupations  —  for  some 
at  the  age  of  twenty-five  in  professions;  for  others  at  the 
age  of  sixteen  in  the  trades.  Between  these  extremes 
will  be  found  most  vocations  in  which  men  and  women 
engage.  A  fundamental  course  of  six  years,  at  once 
cultural  and  preparatory  to  the  widest  possible  range  of 
differentiated  courses  beginning  with  the  seventh  grade, 
is  the  chief  desideratum  of  our  American  school  system. 

Study  of  economics  for  perspective.  —  The  present 
curriculum  of  our  public  schools,  as  I  have  already  shown, 
is  chiefly  composed  of  humanistic  and  scientific  subjects. 
We  have  made  an  attempt  to  introduce  certain  industrial 
and  household  arts,  but  they  are  so  lacking  in  coherency 
as  to  raise  serious  doubts  of  their  value  as  fundamental 
subjects.  Nevertheless,  there  is  another  subject  of  in- 
struction as  fundamental  as  any  now  contained  in  the 
curriculum.  If  the  humanistic  studies  are  essential 
in  the  training  of  the  child  in  his  social  relations,  and  the 
scientific  in  his  relations  to  the  physical  world  in  which 
he  lives,  it  is  equally  important  that  economic  studies 
be   included    in    the    curriculum    to    provide    instruction 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  LIFE  97 

in  the  industries  from  which  man  gains  his  material 
possessions. 

Of  course,  I  do  not  mean  to  include  economic  studies 
in  the  elementary  school  for  the  sake  of  technical  training 
in  any  industry  any  more  than  I  advocate  the  study  of 
poetry  in  the  grades  for  the  training  of  the  poet,  or  design 
for  the  artist,  or  biology  for  the  physician.  I  mean  the 
study  of  industries  for  the  sake  of  a  better  perspective 
on  man's  achievements  in  controlling  the  production, 
distribution,  and  consumption  of  the  things  which  con- 
stitute his  material  wealth.  For  these  he  labors  for 
life;  on  the  use  he  makes  of  them  depend  much  of  his  own 
happiness  and  the  well-being  of  his  fellows.  It  is  only 
by  means  of  such  studies,  whether  pursued  systematically 
in  schools  or  picked  up  under  the  adverse  conditions  of  after 
life,  that  we  acquire  the  basis  of  judgment  concerning 
the  acts  and  aspirations  of  our  fellow  men,  either  those 
who  provide  the  capital  for  exploiting  natural  resources 
or  those  who  do  the  work  required  in  the  several  indus- 
trial pursuits.  In  our  political  life,  no  knowledge  is  of 
more  consequence  than  that  which  is  concerned  with  the 
relations  of  capital  and  labor;  for  us,  as  a  people,  there  is 
nothing  more  to  be  desired  than  a  sympathetic  under- 
standing of  the  conditions  under  which  men  earn  their 
living.  Is  a  liberal  education  possible  in  this  age  without 
a  knowledge  of  these  things  which  more  than  all  others 
make  men  free  or  leave  them  slaves? 

Defining  life-aims.  —  A  threefold  division  of  the  cur- 
riculum —  humanistic,  scientific,  industrial  —  has  the  ad- 
vantage over  the  present  twofold  division  not  only  in 
providing  a  more  liberal  education,  but  also  in  affording  a 

TREND   IN  ED. — 7 


gS  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

better  preparation  for  the  differentiated  courses  which 
begin  in  the  grammar  school.  The  training  now  given 
in  language  and  literature,  and  in  the  arts  and  sciences 
of  the  elementary  school,  is  of  prime  importance  as  a 
preparation  for  any  course  that  a  child  may  pursue  later 
on;  in  some  respects,  no  other  training  can  approach  it  in 
practical  worth  even  for  the  work  of  the  lowest  grade 
of  trade  school.  Nevertheless,  it  is  an  assured  fact  that 
our  boys  and  girls  do  not  enter  industrial  Hfe  with  the 
same  confidence  that  they  exhibit  in  other  fields  for  which 
their  academic  training  has  fitted  them.  They  see  no 
fascination  in  industrial  activity  and  they  have  no  basis 
of  judgment  for  choosing  any  particular  career.  The 
fault  is  largely  due  to  avoidance  of  industrial  instruction 
in  the  schools,  as  something  degrading  if  not  positively 
unclean,  and  the  setting  up  in  its  place  of  unattainable 
ideals  at  variance  with  the  actual  conditions  of  society. 
I  would  not  check  the  ambition  of  any  American  child, 
however  high  his  goal  —  it  is  his  birthright  as  an  American 
citizen  —  but  I  would  have  the  school  help  him  define 
the  aim  of  his  life  in  terms  of  his  own  natural  endowment 
and  possible  attainment.  The  child  has  a  right  to  this 
kind  of  guidance;  the  school  must  give  it,  and  what  the 
school  gives  must  be  determined  by  sympathetic  instruc- 
tion along  the  lines  leading  to  the  goal. 

Revision  of  present  practices.  —  The  public,  in  giving 
support  to  manual  training  and  the  household  arts,  un- 
doubtedly intends  these  subjects  to  promote  closer  rela- 
tionship between  the  school  and  vocational  life;  some 
teachers  of  these  subjects  unquestionably  do  use  them 
with  precisely  this  intent;  but  efficient  instruction  pre- 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  LIFE  99 

supposes  something  definite  to  teach  and  a  consistent 
way  of  teaching  it.  Subtract  from  our  present  manual- 
training  course  that  which  is  essentially  apphed  design 
and  those  exercises  which  are  intended  to  afford  motor 
expression  in  the  learning  of  other  subjects  in  the  cur- 
riculum, and  what  is  left  is  an  incoherent,  unorganized 
series  of  projects  without  purposes  or  educational  value. 
However  good  the  artistic  treatment,  and  however  desir- 
able the  assistance  giv^en  in  acquiring  knowledge  of  other 
subjects,  the  results  now  obtained  contrast  most  un- 
favorably with  what  might  be  secured  from  a  series  of 
projects  harmoniously  organized  to  attain  a  specific  end 
and  at  the  same  time  incidentally  to  provide  for  the  nec- 
essary motor  expression  and  all  needful  application  of 
artistic  design.  In  other  words,  motor  expression  and 
art  training  may  as  well  be  secured  as  by-products  in  doing 
something  worth  while  as  by  making  them  ends  in  them- 
selves. Whatever  value  may  attach  to  the  subject 
matter  in  such  procedure  is  clear  gain.  The  plan  I  pro- 
pose, therefore,  is  intended  to  retain  all  that  is  of  real 
worth  in  manual  training  and  at  the  same  time  to  get 
something  still  more  to  be  desired.  It  is  precisely  the 
plan  long  followed  by  good  teachers  of  reading  and  writing. 
The  child  in  his  reading  may  as  well  read  the  best  of  lit- 
erature as  the  poorest,  and  in  writing  learn  how  to  ex- 
press himself  clearly,  concisely,  and  in  good  form  as  to 
follow  everlastingly  a  copy-plate. 

It  may  be  interjected  at  this  point  that  some  teachers 
of  manual  training  have  used  the  subject  as  a  means  of 
introducing  the  child  to  the  complexities  of  social  life, 
that  it  has  been  a  means  of  socializing  him,  that  it  has 


lOO  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

given  him  a  chance  to  find  himself  in  the  midst  of  a  highly 
artificial  and  conventional  environment.  If  this  be  true, 
and  the  aim  is  certainly  not  an  unworthy  one,  the  end 
may  as  well  be  attained  by  putting  the  activities  proposed 
on  the  high  plane  of  real  life. 

Social  needs  and  subject  matter.  —  The  problem,  then, 
is  to  organize  the  information  within  the  industrial  field 
in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  valuable,  first,  in  the  edu- 
cation of  the  masses  and,  second,  in  technical  training 
for  specific  vocations.  There  is  no  lack  of  information; 
what  is  knowable  in  any  industry  is  beyond  the  reach  of 
anyone  save  the  most  expert  specialist,  and  even  he  is 
tantalized  by  his  inability  to  grasp  all  within  his  reach. 
That  a  field  is  large,  overwhelmingly  large,  ought  not 
to  deter  the  educator  from  entering  it.  The  scientific 
field,  for  example,  is  large,  overwhelmingly  large,  but 
when  it  is  systematically  classified  the  teacher  is  in  a  posi- 
tion to  select  that  which  may  have  educational  value 
even  for  the  youngest  child.  Without  classification  it 
might  be  possible  to  teach  much  of  practical  value,  but  the 
school  course  from  infancy  to  adult  life  would  present  a 
sorry  spectacle.  The  logical  arrangement  of  scientific 
information  is  the  only  criterion  of  the  worth  of  the  com- 
pleted scientific  course.  The  selection  of  materials  for 
presentation  at  any  particular  stage  depends  upon  peda- 
gogical insight  which  takes  into  account  both  the  goal 
to  be  reached  and  the  peculiarities  of  the  learner.  The 
way  in  which  children  learn  determines  the  method  of 
approach  to  any  subject,  but  it  sets  no  standard  of  worth 
upon  the  acquisition.  The  only  criterion  of  excellence 
is  to  be  found  within  the  subject  itself  in  its  relation 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  LIK^ ;  101'. 

to  human  needs.  How  the  child  leams  »thqLV^>^  ^^=^4 
is  a  problem  in  psychology;  whether  2  x  2  is  actually  4, 
what  relation  it  bears  to  other  mathematical  facts,  and 
whether  it  is  worth  learning  at  all,  are  problems  reaching 
far  beyond  child-psychology.  In  classifying  the  informa- 
tion within  a  given  field,  we  establish  standards  by  which 
we  judge  the  relative  worth  of  component  parts  and  dis- 
criminate between  what  is  essential  or  characteristic, 
and  what  is  accidental  or  accessory.  Such  categories  we 
have  in  the  humanities  and  the  sciences,  and  they  control 
the  trend  of  instruction  throughout  the  school  course. 
We  need  such  a  guide  to  the  industries  in  order  that  every 
step  from  the  kindergarten  on  to  the  technical  school  may 
fit  into  our  plan  for  industrial  education. 

Selection  of  subject  matter.  —  Much  confusion  in  the 
work  of  manual  training  has  come  from  a  failure  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  psychological  guide  to  methods  of 
teaching  and  organizing  subject  matter,  and  the  logical 
guide  to  the  sequence  of  topics  and  the  value  of  the  com- 
ponent parts.  The  need  of  food,  clothing,  and  shelter, 
for  example,  is  easily  brought  home  to  a  child.  The 
psychical  reaction  to  the  suggestion  that  he  satisfy  these 
needs  for  himself  is  an  excellent  starting-point  for  the 
study  of  primitive  life;  it  gives  a  splendid  clue  to  ways  of 
approaching  certain  fundamental  industrial  processes, 
and  for  that  purpose  may  often  be  used  advantageously 
in  teaching.  But  to  set  up  this  principle  as  a  guide  for 
making  courses  of  study  is  to  confound  means  and  ends. 
Everything  worth  having  in  this  life  has  a  place  in  the 
gratification  of  human  wants  —  language  and  literature, 
science  and  fine  arts,  politics,  law,  and  religion,  no  less  than 


102  tHfi:  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

tood,  dotiimg.,"  and*  Ghelter.  What  is  suitable  food,  how 
it  is  produced,  distributed,  and  prepared  for  eating,  and 
what  becomes  of  it  in  nutrition  is  a  subject  for  study 
quite  apart  from  the  satisfaction  of  hunger.  The  need 
of  sustaining  life  may  make  the  study  of  great  importance, 
but  it  suggests  no  classification  of  the  knowledge  abound- 
ing in  the  scientific  and  industrial  processes.  Likewise 
the  need  of  speech  for  the  interchange  of  ideas  gives 
no  clue  to  the  systematic  structure  of  language,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  vocabulary  and  the  grammatical  charac- 
teristics of  any  particular  language.  The  conclusion, 
therefore,  is  that  the  method  of  rediscovery  of  ways  and 
means  of  satisfying  human  needs  is  no  sufficient  guide 
either  to  what  children  should  learn  or  to  the  sequence 
of  materials  employed  in  instruction. 

The  industrial  processes  by  which  man  acquires  his 
material  possessions  and  shapes  them  according  to  his 
desires,  are  directed  to  the  transformation  of  natural 
resources.  Raw  materials  are  produced  and  worked 
over;  they  are  distributed  and  put  to  use.  Each  step,  if 
properly  taken,  adds  to  their  value.  What  constitutes 
value  and  what  means  are  employed  to  effect  the  change 
should  be  made  the  subject  of  instruction.  True,  the 
amount  of  human  labor  involved  is  immeasurable,  the 
variety  of  human  occupation  almost  inconceivable,  and 
the  range  of  productive  activity  well-nigh  beyond  our 
understanding,  but  the  fundamental  processes  are  limited 
and  relatively  simple  in  their  operation. 

Studying  products  of  commerce.  —  For  pedagogical 
purposes,  the  materials  of  most  significance  in  the  in- 
dustries are  (i)  foods,  (2)  textiles,  (3)  woods,  (4)  metals, 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  LIFE  IO3 

and  (5)  clays  and  other  allied  earth  materials.  Fuels, 
supplying  great  industries  in  themselves,  occupy  a  middle 
ground  between  industrial  materials  and  the  motive 
power  employed  in  the  industrial  arts.  Commerce  is 
that  industry  which  uses  the  products  of  all  other  in- 
dustries in  making  things  available  for  human  consump- 
tion. This  classification  has  the  advantage  of  fixing 
attention  on  the  stuffs  out  of  which  things  are  made  and 
upon  which  human  ingenuity  brings  to  bear  its  most 
lavish  expenditure  of  industrial  effort.  The  next  step 
is  to  single  out  the  dominant  processes  in  the  successive 
stages  of  production,  manufacture,  and  distribution,  and 
their  interrelations,  peculiar  to  each  class  of  materials. 
The  facts  concerning  these  processes  constitute  the  subject 
matter  of  instruction  in  the  industries.  The  technical 
skill  required  in  the  operation  of  any  industrial  process 
is  the  object  of  vocational  training. 

The  curriculum  in  industrial  arts.  —  A  well-organized 
course  of  study  in  the  industries  must  be  the  joint  work 
of  technical  and  pedagogical  experts.  The  scientist  will 
be  called  upon  to  contribute  his  share,  and  his  contribu- 
tion will  be  no  inconsiderable  amount.  At  one  stage 
of  the  course,  emphasis  may  be  placed  upon  the  processes 
of  production;  at  another  stage,  the  stress  may  be 
upon  manufacture,  distribution,  or  consumption.  Nature 
study,  agriculture,  the  fisheries,  forestry,  and  mining  will 
furnish  indispensable  information.  Geography,  biology, 
physics,  and  chemistry  will  each  add  its  quota  of  knowl- 
edge. Facilities  for  transportation,  the  production  and 
transmission  of  power,  and  the  agencies  of  trade  and 
commerce  will  have  a  bearing  on  the  problem.     But  the 


I04  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

chief  consideration  in  the  course  of  study  is  the  ordering 
of  the  industrial  processes  by  which  raw  materials  are 
transformed  into  things  of  greater  value  for  the  satis- 
faction of  human  needs. 

Historical  development  of  industry.  —  The  simplest 
industrial  processes  are  often  the  most  primitive.  This 
fact  suggests  the  desirabihty  of  sometimes  approaching 
the  study  in  the  primary  classes  from  the  historical  stand- 
point. To  make  the  study  of  primitive  life,  however, 
the  dominant  purpose  of  instruction  leads  to  the  intro- 
duction of  much  superfluous  material  which  tends  to 
crowd  the  curriculum  and  overburden  the  child.  Wher- 
ever the  approach  can  be  made  advantageously  by  way  of 
primitive  life  or  by  plays  and  games  which  express  chil- 
dren's emotions,  that  method  may  be  employed.  The 
impetus  gained  in  this  way  should  be  directed  to  the 
apprehension  of  the  systematic  knowledge  contained  in 
the  field  under  coasideration.  When  textile  processes, 
for  example,  are  to  be  studied,  the  need  of  clothing  may  be 
emphasized  and  means  suggested  for  gratifying  the  want. 
Projects  for  carding,  spinning,  and  weaving  may  be  car- 
ried out  in  simple  ways  and  illustrated  by  reference  to 
actual  operations  in  bygone  times  or  by  the  practices  of 
contemporaneous  primitive  people.  But  to  rediscover 
every  step  in  the  original  development  of  these  arts  is  to 
miss  the  purpose  of  industrial  education;  it  may  be  good 
industrial  history,  but  it  is  not  good  industrial  training. 

The  industrial  aspects  of  the  study,  as  distinguished 
from  the  historical,  require  that  the  child  should  acquire 
in  some  way  and  at  some  time  —  presumably  in  many 
ways    and    at    widely    separated   times  —  a    fairly  well- 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  LIFE  IO5 

rounded  conception  of  textile  processes  and  should  become 
familiar  with  the  most  important  types  of  textile  prod- 
ucts. It  is  not  enough  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the 
primitive  process  of  spinning,  even  spinning  on  a  wheel, 
and  then  to  pass  on  to  the  weaving  of  a  simple  rug.  Spin- 
ning is  an  important  industry  in  modem  life;  it  means 
yams  for  all  manner  of  fabrics  made  from  a  great  variety 
of  raw  materials;  it  means  thread  of  all  kinds;  it  means 
cordage.  How  many  of  our  school  children,  how  many 
adults,  have  any  adequate  conception  of  the  extent  of 
these  industries  or  their  bearing  on  every-day  Hfe?  And 
yet  the  processes  are  simple,  and,  by  actual  demonstra- 
tion, supplemented  by  illustrations  cut  from  current 
magazines  or  by  visits  to  neighboring  factories,  the  lesson 
can  be  taught  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  the  learning  a 
delight  and  the  knowledge  a  permanent  possession.  On 
leaving  the  elementary  school,  every  child  should  know, 
it  seems  to  me,  the  characteristics  of  cotton,  wool,  silk, 
and  linen,  both  in  the  spun  and  woven  forms,  and  have 
some  notion  of  their  value  as  determined  by  the  processes 
to  which  they  have  been  subjected.  A  proper  combina- 
tion of  handwork,  the  application  of  design  and  the  giving 
of  information  should  produce  the  desired  results  with- 
out strain  and  with  constantly  increasing  interest  in  the 
study.  At  the  end  of  a  high-school  course,  possibly 
at  the  end  of  the  grammar  school,  a  girl  should  be  able 
not  only  to  make  many  articles  of  clothing,  but  also  to 
discriminate  in  the  choice  of  fabrics  by  reference  to  what 
she  has  learned  in  school  concerning  the  nature  of  the 
several  materials  and  the  processes  of  manufacture.  If 
she  doesn't  get  this  knowledge  in  school,  when  and  where 


Io6  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

will  she  ever  get  it?  And  isn't  it  something  which  she  has 
a  right  to  know?  How  much  time  will  it  take,  I  ask,  to 
give  her  a  vastly  better  equipment  in  this  field  than 
ninety  per  cent  of  adults  have  to-day?  It  is  less  a  problem 
of  instruction  or  school  administration,  than  it  is  a  point 
of  view  and  selection  of  materials  for  instruction.  Once 
accept  my  proposition  that  this  is  worth  doing,  and  the 
time  can  easily  be  found,  and  some  day  we  shall  have 
teachers  prepared  to  do  the  work. 

The  evolution  of  ceramics.  —  Again,  let  me  illustrate 
from  another  field  —  from  the  clay  industries.  Children 
like  to  make  mud  pies.  The  kindergarten  turns  this 
aptitude  to  good  use  in  fashioning  things  by  hand  mold- 
ing. Of  late,  primary  teachers  have  adopted  clay  as  a 
convenient  medium  for  expressing  art  forms.  The  result 
is  thirty  plaques,  thirty  inkwells,  or  thirty  vases  — all 
very  pretty,  decorated  and  glazed,  when  put  in  a  row 
on  exhibition  day.  So  far  I  have  no  criticism.  My  com- 
plaint is  that  they  stop  right  there.  The  chief  processes 
in  the  clay  inidustries  are  very  few:  hand  molding,  turning 
on  the  potter's  wheel,  pressing  into  set  forms,  and  build- 
ing up  in  permanent  shape,  as  in  cement  and  concrete 
construction.  Why  not,  then,  pass  from  hand  molding, 
which  can  be  approached  through  primitive  types,  to  the 
use  of  the  potter's  wheel?  A  single  demonstration  of 
this  machine,  with  the  use  of  illustrations  which  may  be 
had  in  abundance,  will  give  the  clue  to  the  entire  round 
of  the  pottery  industries.  A  few  samples,  varying  from 
unglazed  earthenware  to  fine  china,  will  complete  the 
teaching  equipment.  Next  come  brick  and  terra  cotta. 
But  who  has  ever  heard  of  brickmaking  in  school?    I 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  LIFE  I07 

should  like  to  hear  of  it  because  it  is  an  immense  industry, 
the  products  of  which  are  visible  on  every  hand  —  soft 
brick,  hard  brick,  fire  brick,  red  brick,  yellow  brick 
ornamental  brick,  terra  cotta.  Why  should  not  our 
children  know  more  about  these  things  than  we  do?  I 
venture  to  say  that  ten  hours  of  instruction  judiciously 
spread  over  two  or  three  years,  and  properly  correlated 
with  nature  study  and  geography,  will  give  to  sixth-grade 
children  a  better  appreciation  of  one  of  the  staple  building 
materials  than  ninety  out  of  every  hundred  adults  have 
to-day.  Is  it  worth  the  time?  If  so,  the  time  can  be 
found. 

I  might  illustrate  my  point  by  any  of  the  staple  foods,  by 
glass,  by  woods,  or  by  metals.  The  working  up  of  these 
materials,  the  getting  them  ready  for  use,  does  not  in- 
volve many  processes.  The  combination  of  processes  is 
most  intricate  and  the  variety  of  products  simply  inde- 
scribable, but  with  an  eye  single  to  typical  ways  by  which 
raw  materials  are  transformed  it  is  not  impossible  to  leave 
with  twelve-year-old  children  a  lasting  impression  of  the 
modes  of  operation  in  any  industry  and  the  nature  of  the 
most  important  results. 

Strengthening  the  curriculum.  —  I  am  well  aware  that 
this  plan  will  be  criticized  by  some  as  being  retrogressive, 
a  return  to  a  logical  control  of  childish  activities,  and  by 
others  as  abandonment  of  the  new  education  through 
motor  training.  It  may  mean  revolution,  but  if  it  results 
in  a  richer  and  more  unified  curriculum  one  critic  is  an- 
swered, and  if  the  curriculum  is  thereby  simplified  the  other 
critic  will  get  no  hearing  from  the  American  public.  But 
how  is  the  curriculum  strengthened?     First,  it  must  be 


Io8  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

conceded  that  the  content  of  industrial  education,  as  I 
have  defined  it,  has  some  value;  whatever  that  may 
amount  to  is  a  distinct  gain.  In  the  second  place,  the 
plan  calls  for  richer  courses  in  arithmetic,  nature  study,  and 
geography.  The  quantitative  measurements  of  arith- 
metic will  find  concrete  application  in  every  step  of  the 
industrial  process  from  the  first  step  of  production  of 
the  raw  materials  to  the  end  of  the  series  when  goods  are 
turned  to  practical  use.  How  much,  how  many  times, 
how  often,  in  what  proportion,  at  what  cost,  are  ques- 
tions which  must  be  answered  by  the  child  at  every  turn. 
The  computations  called  for  in  the  manufacture,  trans- 
portation, and  final  distribution  of  any  commodity  are 
in  daily  use  in  trade  and  commerce,  and  should  be  the 
staple  requirement  of  the  school.  Nothing  will  vitalize 
the  study  of  arithmetic  more  than  to  create  in  the  school 
a  need  for  quantitative  measurement  and  for  the  employ- 
ment of  business  methods  in  business  affairs.  Such  a 
situation  suggests  clearly  the  place  and  scope  of  commer- 
cial training  in  the  upper  grades  or  in  high  school  for  those 
who  are  in  training  for  commercial  vocations.  The  natural 
distribution  of  metals,  fuels,  clays,  and  other  earth 
materials,  the  climatic  and  physiographic  conditions  which 
determine  the  location,  amount,  character,  and  avail- 
ability of  our  flora  and  fauna,  the  factors  which  control 
transportation  by  land  and  water  —  these  are  problems 
in  geography  which  become  concrete  and  vital  in  the 
study  of  industries.  The  correlations  are  so  obvious 
that  only  a  stupid  teacher  can  miss  them.  In  nature 
study  we  shall  find  a  real  place  for  the  elements  of  agri- 
culture  and  forestry;  no  longer  aimless  meandering  in 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  LIFE  lOQ 

any  scientific  field,  but  definite  attention  to  those  occupa- 
tions concerned  with  the  production  of  materials  good  for 
food,  clothing,  and  shelter,  the  conditions  calculated  to 
give  best  results,  and  the  resistance  which  men  meet  in 
doing  their  work.  The  growing  of  any  crop,  even  in  a 
window  garden,  will  epitomize  the  farmer's  labors  in  tilling 
the  soil,  supplying  plant  food,  utilizing  light,  heat,  and  air, 
overcoming  disease  and  insect  pests,  and  reaping  his 
harvest.  Every  step  takes  on  new  meaning  when  the 
learner  sees  its  place  in  the  series  of  operations  culminat- 
ing in  the  commercial  food  supply  of  his  own  community, 
its  sanitary  regulation  and  domestic  consumption.  The 
elements  of  physiology  and  hygiene,  and  of  physics  and 
chemistry,  are  also  called  into  requisition;  they  are  all 
indispensable  in  fixing  values  of  industrial  products  and 
determining  economy  in  technical  operation.  What 
makes  for  hygienic  living  is  from  the  economic  standpoint 
as  well  worth  knowing  as  what  mechanical  appliance 
will  most  increase  the  output.  A  proper  study  of  the 
industries,  therefore,  I  contend,  will  bring  about  a  unified 
and  closely  correlated  course  in  the  biological  and  phys- 
ical sciences  by  way  of  supplying  the  information  wanted 
by  the  child  in  adjusting  himself  to  the  real  world. 

Correlation  between  school  subjects.  —  Perhaps  some 
timorous  soul  will  interpret  my  outHne  of  the  pedagogical 
relations  between  the  sciences  and  the  industries  as  a 
denial  of  any  independence  to  arithmetic,  nature  study, 
and  geography.  Far  from  it.  The  scientific  subjects 
have  a  function  of  their  own  in  the  curriculum,  as  do  the 
humanities  and  the  industries.  The  use  of  language  and 
the  arts  of  reading  and  writing  in  studying  the  indus- 


no  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

tries,  even  the  generous  use  of  supplementary  readings 
giving  industrial  information,  does  not  preclude  the  study 
of  literature  in  progressively  systematic  form.  The 
course  of  study  in  every  subject  may  have  two  aspects, 
one  peculiar  to  itself  by  virtue  of  which  we  recognize  it 
as  a  distinct  subject,  the  other  relative  to  other  subjects 
which  the  child  may  be  learning.  In  arithmetic,  that 
which  is  peculiarly  mathematical  looks  forward  to  the 
systematic  development  of  the  science  of  mathematics, 
and  it  is  possible  so  to  emphasize  this  aspect  as  to  make 
the  study  almost  exclusively  formal.  The  natural 
sciences  may  be  so  taught  as  to  have  no  direct  bearing  on 
the  child's  experience.  My  thought  is  that  any  sub- 
ject worthy  of  a  place  in  the  school  curriculum  should  be 
developed  along  systematic  lines  characteristic  of  the 
subject  itself  by  means  which  function  in  the  child's 
experience  with  other  subjects  of  information.  This  is 
only  another  way  of  saying  that  whatever  is  learned 
should  be  applied  in  practice.  Perhaps  better  said,  it 
is  the  harmonious  interaction  of  all  subjects  in  the  cur- 
riculum which  gives  zest  to  study,  soHdarity  in  the  knowl- 
edge acquired,  and  efficiency  in  converting  knowledge 
into  power.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  the  learning  process 
is  a  unity;  the  child's  experience  in  gathering  information 
from  many  sources  is  unified,  and  it  is  his  own;  his  in- 
stincts, impulses,  and  all  his  activities  belong  to  him  alone, 
and  however  segregated  the  ultimate  ends  of  his  endeavor 
may  be  in  the  mind  of  his  teacher,  he  weaves  all  his  ex- 
periences into  the  fabric  of  his  own  Hfe.  Whether  or  no 
that  fabric  be  technically  correct  depends  upon  the 
systematic   ordering  of   his   experiences;   its   serviceable- 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  LIFE  III 

ness  for  any  particular  purpose  depends  upon  the  mate- 
rials which  have  entered  into  it. 

Revising  the  school  program.  —  One  other  important 
question  awaits  an  answer.  Will  the  plan  I  have  proposed 
tend  to  simplify  the  curriculum?  My  answer  is  that  at 
least  four  subjects  will  be  combined  into  one,  and  in  some 
elementary  schools  one  teacher  will  take  the  place  of 
four.  Manual  training,  fine  arts,  domestic  art,  and 
domestic  science  will  drop  out  below  the  seventh  grade, 
and  in  their  place  we  shall  have  the  one  subject  of  in- 
dustrial arts,  the  elements  of  industries.  The  term 
*' manual  training,"  if  used  at  all,  will  cover  the  forms 
of  motor  expression  employed  in  teaching  reading,  writing 
and  drawing,  as  well  as  the  manual  exercises  used  in 
agriculture  or  weaving  or  pottery-making  or  carpentry. 
There  will  be  no  hours  set  apart  in  the  school  program 
for  work  exclusively  with  the  hands,  and  teachers  will 
not  be  expected  to  provide  manual  occupations  for  every 
minute  of  the  time  assigned  to  any  subject.  When 
manual  work  is  needed  it  will  be  demanded  as  insistently 
and  employed  as  successfully  in  the  humanities  and  the 
sciences  as  in  the  industries.  In  the  lower  school,  manual 
exercises  will  be  used  as  a  means  of  self-expression,  a 
method  of  teaching  rather  than  a  subject  of  instruction 
or  a  way  of  acquiring  technical  skill.  That  is,  cooking 
in  the  lower  school  enables  the  child  to  know  what  hap- 
pens when  heat  is  applied  to  foods,  and  in  what  respects 
foods  thereby  are  made  more  serviceable;  cooking  as  an 
art  in  which  a  girl  should  excel  belongs  to  a  later  period 
when  she  is  fitting  herself  for  housekeeping.  Technical 
skill  is  a  distinct  aim  in  vocational  training,  but  in  the 


112  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

earlier  years  of  school  the  purpose  is  general  rather  than 
specific,  cultural  rather  than  vocational. 

Development  of  the  creative  instinct.  —  In  all  industrial 
processes,  wherever  man  transforms  materials  into  things 
of  greater  value,  he  employs  a  technic  peculiar  to  the 
situation,  and  gives  to  the  product  a  touch  which  pleases 
his  aesthetic  sense.  Earthen  bowls  might  be  made,  I 
suppose,  without  appreciable  artistic  merit,  but  the  fact 
is,  that  the  crudest  pottery  shows  an  effort  to  attain 
some  ideal  standard.  This  striving  for  artistic  effect  is 
as  instinctive  in  childhood  as  in  primitive  man,  and  no 
worker  ever  loses  it  until  he  loses  all  pride  in  his  handi- 
work. It  is  the  source  of  every  fine  art.  It  is  self-expres- 
sion, which  is  at  its  best  when  bodied  forth  in  doing  things 
worth  doing  well.  The  teacher  of  art,  therefore,  finds 
his  best  opportunity  in  that  field  which  offers  greatest 
inducement  to  constructive  design.  The  art  training 
which  belongs  in  the  elementary  school  is  that  training 
which  makes  for  a  better  appreciation  of  aesthetic  stand- 
ards and  which  finds  expression  in  making  things  more 
pleasing  than  they  otherwise  would  be.  It  adds  no 
burden  to  the  curriculum;  on  the  contrary,  it  enlivens  it 
and  makes  its  tasks  more  pleasurable  because  more  grati- 
fying to  personal  wants. 

Revitalizing  school  subjects.  —  A  systematic  course 
in  the  industries  will  have  the  additional  advantage  of 
making  it  easier  to  teach  everything  else  in  the  curricu- 
lum. Not  only  will  the  study  of  industrial  processes 
give  rise  to  concrete  problems  in  mathematics  and  the 
natural  sciences,  but  the  practical  character  of  such 
problems  will  incite  children  to  find  the  surest  and  most 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  LIFE  II3 

businesslike  way  of  solving  them.  Time  will  be  saved 
for  drill  in  every  other  line.  With  fewer  subjects  and  more 
practical  problems,  I  should  confidently  expect  better 
results  in  the  three  R's  and  a  more  thorough  disciphne 
resulting  from  work  in  every  subject.  There  would  be  no 
attempt  to  cover  the  whole  field  of  human  effort;  the 
standard  set  in  the  study  of  industries  whereby  only  the 
essential  processes  should  be  included  in  the  course  would 
react  upon  the  courses  of  study  in  the  humanities  and  the 
sciences.  Let  it  be  agreed  that  only  fundamentals  have 
a  place  in  the  elementary  curriculum,  and  it  will  be  com- 
paratively easy  to  insist  upon  thorough  work.  Under 
such  conditions  there  can  be  no  excuse  for  not  getting 
it.  Those  who  believe,  as  I  do,  in  the  educational  value 
of  work  well  done,  will  join  hands  right  here  with  those 
who  advocate  a  curriculum  which  imposes  tasks  worth 
doing  well. 

Education  for  equality.  —  My  conclusion  is  that  in- 
dustrial education  is  essential  to  the  social  and  political 
well-being  of  a  democracy.  It  is  the  privilege  of  all, 
rather  than  the  duty  of  a  few,  to  be  informed  on  matters 
affecting  the  social  welfare  of  the  body  politic.  A  knowl- 
edge of  how  men  get  a  living,  the  nature  of  their  work, 
and  the  value  of  it,  is  a  prerequisite  to  intelligent  apprecia- 
tion of  the  dignity  of  labor.  A  sympathetic  understand- 
ing of  the  conditions  underlying  industrial  competition 
will  make  for  civil  order  and  social  stability.  Training 
for  citizenship  may  not  safely  disregard  the  dominant 
interests  of  the  great  majority  of  citizens.  The  public 
school  must  teach  that  which  all  should  know.  If  only 
six  years  can  be  had  for  this  work,  the  work  must  be  done 

TREND   IN   ED  — 8 


114  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

in  six  years.  There  is  no  alternative.  It  must  be  done 
in  such  a  way,  too,  that  children  will  grasp  its  significance 
and  carry  its  impressions  throughout  their  lives.  It 
must  establish  such  habits  of  thought  and  conduct  that 
all  subsequent  work  will  be  aided  by  the  discipline.  This 
is  the  ideal  of  the  elementary  school.  Joined  with  the 
humanities  and  the  sciences,  a  study  of  the  industries 
rounds  out  the  education  of  the  citizen  and  equips  him 
to  begin  his  vocational  training.  On  the  threshold  of 
active  life  it  puts  him  on  a  par  with  his  fellows.  It  assures 
him  that  kind  of  equality  which  is  the  opportunity  of 
every  American. 


CHAPTER  VII 

PROFESSIONAL  FACTORS  IN  THE  TRAINING  OF 
THE  HIGH-SCHOOL  TEACHER  ^ 

MY  purpose  in  this  chapter  is  to  discuss  what  may 
be    properly    considered    professional    in     the 
training  of  the  high-school  teacher,   as   distin- 
guished   from    the     academic    or    cultural.     What    con- 
stitutes professional  training?     What  Hght  is  shed  on  this 
problem  by  the  example  of  other  learned  professions? 

Ethical  relationships  between  mankind.  —  The  eco- 
nomic law  of  supply  and  demand  determines  the  vocations 
of  most  men  as  it  controls  the  products  of  their  labor. 
In  some  vocations,  however,  another  factor  comes  into 
play.  The  rights  of  others  in  mind,  body,  and  estate 
have  to  be  reckoned  with.  In  most  occupations  these 
human  rights  are  implicit;  they  are  cared  for  in  the  common 
law.  But  in  others  they  are  guarded  specifically  by 
statute.  Not  everyone  who  has  the  opportunity  and 
inclination  may  practice  law  or  medicine.  By  the  law 
of  the  State,  those  who  are  pledged  to  see  justice  done 
between  man  and  man,  those  who  by  the  nature  of  their 
calling  are  in  a  position  to  imperil  the  health  or  lives  of 
their  fellows,  those  upon  whom  the  public  depends  for 
protection,  or  who  belong  to  the  civil  service,  are  licensed 
to  pursue  their  vocations.  Putting  aside  those  voca- 
tions which  are  licensed  for  revenue  only,  it  appears  that 

*  A  revised  reprint  from  the  Educational  Review,  March,  1913,  used  by  courtesy 
of  the  publishers. 


Il6  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

when  the  State  interferes  between  the  practitioner  and 
the  pubUc,  there  is  an  ethical  principle  at  stake.  The 
well-being  of  the  many  must  not  be  sacrificed  to  the 
ambition  or  the  cupidity  of  the  few. 

The  pursuit  of  ethical  ideals  was  once  the  chief  character- 
istic of  the  learned  professions.  Witness  the  moral  code 
contained  in  the  Hippocratic  oath  which  has  been  the 
gateway  to  the  profession  of  medicine  for  two  thousand 
years.  Think  of  the  vows  taken  by  the  candidate  for  the 
priesthood,  and  of  the  pledges  exacted  upon  admission 
to  the  bar.  The  modern  State  but  reenacts  the  profes- 
sional decalogue  when  it  insists  upon  proper  evidence  of 
moral  character  in  licensing  the  lawyers,  physicians,  and 
teachers.  Some  day  the  principle  will  be  extended  to 
embrace  all  vocations  which  touch  on  the  ethical  relations 
of  man  and  man. 

Cardinal  principles  of  professional  service.  —  The  first 
qualification  for  professional  service,  therefore,  is  good 
character  —  the  living  embodiment  of  moral  standards, 
the  conscious  striving  for  high  ideals.  The  professional 
worker  looks  to  the  future  and  is  pledged  by  his  vocation 
to  make  the  future  better  than  the  present.  Such  an  aim 
implies  in  these  days  the  possession  of  two  other  quali- 
fications, each  potent  and  indispensable.  One  of  these 
is  specialized  knowledge,  and  the  other  is  skill.  These 
three  —  an  ethical  aim,  specialized  knowledge,  and  tech- 
nical skill  —  are  the  trinity  upon  which  professional 
service  rests.  The  stonecutter  may  have  superior  skill, 
but  with  only  a  modicum  of  specialized  knowledge  and  lack- 
ing an  ethical  aim,  he  remains  the  artisan;  the  physician 
who  is  ignorant  of  his  subject,  however  high  his  aim  or 


TRAINING  OF  THE  HIGH-SCHOOL  TEACHER  II7 

however  skillful  in  practice,  is  still  a  quack;  if  he  is  learned 
in  high  degree  but  lacks  professional  skill,  he  is  a  confirmed 
bungler;  the  lawyer  who  is  versed  in  all  the  sub  till  ties  of 
the  law  and  adroit  in  legal  procedure,  but  who  disregards 
the  ethics  of  his  profession,  is  a  charlatan,  despised  of  men. 

The  teacher  may  be  a  professional  worker.  But  he 
who  puts  himself  in  the  professional  class  must  know  ac- 
curately what  he  is  to  do,  have  the  requisite  skill  for 
doing  it,  and  do  his  work  under  the  guidance  of  high 
ethical  principles.  The  teacher  who  is  ignorant  of  his 
subject  is  a  quack;  the  teacher  who  lacks  professional  skill 
is  a  bungler;  the  teacher  who  is  not  inspired  by  high  ideals 
is  a  charlatan. 

The  road  the  masters  have  trod.  —  My  idea  of  profes- 
sional training  is  that  it  is  a  process  of  giving  to  novices 
what  the  masters  have  acquired.  It  is  helping  the  begin- 
ner to  get  what  he  might  get  for  himself  under  favorable 
conditions.  There  is  nothing  in  the  training  of  a  teacher 
in  a  professional  school,  for  example,  that  differs  from  the 
training  of  any  teacher  anywhere,  except  that  the  good 
professional  school  affords  opportunities,  equipment,  and 
guidance  that  few  teachers  can  get  elsewhere.  The  pro- 
fessional school  for  teachers,  like  the  professional  schools 
of  law,  medicine,  and  engineering,  is  intended  to  help  the 
novice  travel  the  road  that  every  great  master  has  trav- 
eled, but  to  do  it  more  quickly,  economically,  and 
confidently  than  he  otherwise  could. 

Focusing  educational  effort.  —  In  my  discussion  of  the 
professional  training  of  the  high-school  teacher,  I  appeal 
directly  to  the  experience  of  the  best  teachers  before  me 
and  to  the  best  in  each  one  of  my  readers.     What  is  the 


Il8  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

process  by  which  you  have  made  yourselves  masters?  Re- 
cahmg  your  own  experiences,  what  would  you  do  if  you 
had  a  fair  field  and  all  possible  favors?  How  would  you 
attain  your  standards  of  excellence  in  the  three  cardinal 
principles  of  professional  service? 

First,  specialized  knowledge.  —  It  is  generally  taken  for 
granted  that  the  college  graduate  knows  enough  to  teach 
in  a  high  school;  in  some  localities  graduation  from  a 
normal  school,  or  even  from  a  secondary  school,  is  con- 
sidered sufficient  evidence  of  abihty  to  do  high-school 
work.  I  wish  to  go  on  record  as  one  who  beheves  that 
graduation  from  a  college  is  no  evidence  whatever  of 
abihty  to  teach  anything.  So  far  as  the  college  is  a  col- 
lege and  not  a  professional  school,  its  business  is  not  the 
training  of  the  teacher  or  of  any  other  professional  worker. 
The  college  aims  to  give  that  general  knowledge  which 
should  lie  at  the  foundation  of  every  kind  of  professional 
superstructure.  What  the  profession  demands  is  special- 
ized knowledge,  the  mastery  of  some  small  field  in  its 
relations  to  other  fields  of  knowledge.  But  knowledge  spe- 
cialized for  the  sake  of  professional  service  is  not  isolated 
information.  It  is  rather  the  product  of  broad  scholarship 
focused  upon  a  particular  subject. 

Right  here  is  where  many  excellent  persons,  chiefly  some 
of  our  ancient  classicists  and  modern  scientists,  make  a 
grave  mistake.  They  argue  that  the  chief  end  of  scholarly 
study  is  the  mental  discipline  that  it  affords,  or  the  pur- 
suit of  truth  for  its  own  sake,  rather  than  the  under- 
standing of  the  subject  in  its  cultural  setting.  Isolated 
knowledge  may  be  useful  in  certain  technical  lines,  but 
knowledge  teeming  with  human  interests  and  specialized 


TRAINING  OF  THE  HIGH-SCHOOL  TEACHER  II9 

along  cultural  lines  is  indispensable  in  professional  service. 

A  need  for  an  intellectual  perspective.  —  It  follows, 
therefore,  that  there  must  be  a  general  preparation  for 
the  beginning  of  professional  study.  Call  it  what  you 
please  —  intellectual  perspective,  cultural  setting,  liberal 
education  —  it  is  something  which  gives  breadth  of  view 
and  that  largeness  of  life  which  form  the  very  foundation 
of  every  kind  of  professional  service.  It  is  precisely  this 
training  for  which  the  college  stands.  I  do  not  pretend 
that  every  college  graduate  has  it,  or  that  there  is  no  other 
way  of  getting  a  liberal  education;  nor  do  I  claim  that  a 
college  degree  should  be  the  stepping-stone  to  every 
learned  profession.  But  I  do  claim  that  the  intending 
high-school  teacher  needs  a  course  of  general  training  the 
equivalent  of  the  best  given  in  any  college  in  the  land,  and 
needs  it,  too,  as  a  prerequisite  to  the  technical  studies  of 
his  profession. 

A  plea  for  sane  scholarship.  —  The  professional  train- 
ing of  the  teacher  properly  begins  with  the  process  of  nar- 
rowing the  field  or  of  intensifying  work  in  some  part  of 
it,  or,  to  use  a  better  figure,  of  focusing  what  one  knows 
on  the  problem  in  hand.  It  is  more  than  mere  specializa- 
tion in  the  subject.  For  example,  a  teacher  once  came 
to  me  from  the  wilds  of  New  York  state,  a  region  barbaric 
only  in  an  educational  way,  however,  saying  that  he 
wanted  to  fit  himself  in  a  six-weeks'  summer  session  to 
teach  Latin.  My  first  question  was,  "  How  much  Latin  do 
you  know? "  Because  my  business  is  the  training  of 
teachers  I  have  become  hardened  to  the  pitiful  exhibition 
of  ignorance  so  often  displayed  by  those  who  want  to  teach, 
but  I  was  not  prepared  for  the  answer  to  my  question  in 


I20  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

this  particular  instance.  "  I  don't  know  any  Latin,"  he 
said;  "  that  is  what  I  have  come  here  for."  "  But  how  do 
you  expect  to  get  ready  to  teach  Latin  in  six  weeks?  " 
"  Well,"  he  replied,  "  f  (Jon't  have  to  begin  till  Septem- 
ber and  all  I  have  to  do  next  year  is  to  teach  Latin  lessons 
and  Caesar;  I  guess  I  can  do  that."  A  little  further  prob- 
ing disclosed  the  fact  that  the  candidate  was  a  high- 
school  teacher  in  good  standing,  legally  certified  to  do 
what  he  proposed,  had  the  sanction  of  his  principal  and 
school  board  for  the  step,  and  was  actually  engaged  to 
teach,  two  months  hence,  a  subject  which  he  had  never 
studied  in  his  life.  It  is  a  striking  commentary  on  the 
situation  to  say  he  was  more  surprised  than  I  had  been 
when  I  told  him  that  he  had  come  to  the  wrong  place. 
His  last  word  to  me  was,  "  Why,  I  thought  Teachers  Col- 
lege was  a  school  for  the  training  of  teachers." 

Actual  fact  as  this  tale  is,  it  sounds  enough  like  a  parable 
to  furnish  me  a  moral  for  to-day's  sermon.  Suppose  this 
teacher  did  get  what  he  wanted  and  after  two  months  of 
cramming  actually  began  to  teach  Latin  according  to 
the  Regents'  syllabus.  What  kind  of  equipment  did  he 
have?  I  suppose  one  might  say  it  was  highly  specialized 
and  focused  on  his  problem.  But  it  is  a  fine  example 
of  what  I  have  called  isolated  knowledge.  It  is  not 
sound  scholarship. 

Now,  take  as  an  example  the  opposite  extreme.  Sup- 
pose a  scholar  in  Latin,  one  who  has  made  an  exhaustive 
study  of  the  Latin  language,  Roman  history,  archaeology, 
literature,  law  —  in  short,  one  who  appreciates  the  genius 
of  Roman  civilization  and  knows  its  bearing  on  modem 
life  —  suppose  such  a  scholar  were  asked  to  teach  Latin 


TRAINING  OF  THE  HIGH-SCHOOL  TEACHER  121 

lessons  and  Caesar  to  high-school  pupils,  aged  fourteen 
years,  boys  and  girls,  untamed  Americans  who  idolize 
Christy  Mathewson,  and  by  parental  ambition  dedicated 
to  the  college.  What  chance  has  your  scholar  of  getting 
ready  for  this  job  in  six  weeks?  Safe  to  say  that  the 
teacher  who  starts  with  nothing  in  July  will  meet  his  class 
with  more  assurance  in  September  than  the  scholar  who 
has  spent  years  in  getting  ready. 

The  building  of  a  curriculum.  —  There  is  no  possibility 
whatever  of  giving  professional  training  to  an  ignoramus. 
The  sculptor  may  be  a  stonecutter  if  he  have  the  tech- 
nical skill,  but  a  stonecutter  can  never  become  the  sculp- 
tor until  he  gets  the  vision  of  the  angel  in  the  unformed 
block  of  marble.  The  teacher  whose  knowledge  of  the 
subject  is  confined  within  the  covers  of  two  or  three 
books  —  Somebody's  Latin  Lessons  and  Caesar's  Com- 
mentaries, Books  I-IV,  we  will  say  —  has  no  trouble  in 
selecting  what  he  will  teach.  No  more  has  the  stone- 
cutter to  do  with  determining  his  task  when  it  is  defined 
for  him  in  a  blue-print  drawing.  But  the  master,  he 
who  has  command  of  himself  and  of  his  subject  as  well, 
must  pick  and  choose  at  every  step.  Time  is  precious; 
opportunity  will  not  wait.  He  must  act,  and  his  artistic 
eye  is  quick  to  condemn  every  slip  that  he  makes. 

Right  here  is  the  chance  for  the  most  helpful  lessons 
in  professional  training.  In  the  professional  school  for 
teachers  we  call  it  a  course  in  the  selection  of  materials 
and  in  the  arrangement  of  these  materials  in  a  curriculum. 
The  wider  the  range  of  scholarship,  the  more  one  knows 
of  his  subject,  the  greater  is  the  need  of  wise  selection 
and  orderly  arrangement  of  materials.     One  who  is  full 


122  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

of  his  subject  does  not  unload  it  all  in  one  year  or  upon 
one  class.  What  may  safely  be  given  out  will  ultimately 
be  learned  by  any  conscientious  teacher,  but  he  who 
has  much  to  give  is  the  one  who  learns  most  readily  and  is 
most  appreciative  of  what  the  experienced  guide  can 
tell  him. 

Injecting  vitality  into  the  course  of  study.  —  We  find 
in  practice  that  even  the  best  scholars  among  our  college 
graduates  are  not  ready  for  a  technical  course  in  the 
selection  and  arrangement  of  materials.  Too  often 
their  training  is  scrappy.  The  elective  system  makes  it 
easy  to  follow  a  favorite  professor  or  to  omit  some  essen- 
tial part  of  a  subject.  I  recall  the  case  of  a  graduate  of 
one  of  our  best  universities  who  had  studied  Latin  four 
years  in  high  school  and  four  years  in  college,  but  who 
had  never  had  a  course  at  any  time  in  Roman  history, 
and  who  knew  next  to  nothing  of  Roman  life.  It  is  not 
at  all  unusual  to  find  college  graduates  who  have  had 
years  of  training  in  history  made  up  of  fragments  called 
the  Reformation,  the  Renaissance,  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, and  the  like,  but  with  no  real  understanding  of  the 
sweep  of  modern  history.  A  large  part  of  the  trouble 
with  teaching  the  sciences  is  due  to  the  fact  that  physics, 
chemistry,  geography,  physiography,  meteorology,  zoology, 
entomology,  physiology,  bacteriology,  and  the  rest  are 
taught  as  isolated  units.  Even  in  mathematics,  the  most 
clearly  defined  of  all  our  high-school  subjects,  the  college 
graduate  comes  to  his  work  removed  by  just  four  years 
from  the  problem  with  which  he  has  to  deal.  In  all  such 
cases  the  first  step  is  to  get  back  on  high-school  ground. 
The  Latinist  must  read  Caesar,  Cicero,  and  Virgil,  not  neces- 


TRAINING  OF  THE  HIGH-SCHOOL  TEACHER  1 23 

sarily  stopping  with  four  books  of  the  Gallic  War,  or  with 
the  Catilinian  orations,  or  with  an  abbreviated  edition  of 
the  Aeneid;  he  should  learn  to  speak  the  language  at  least 
well  enough  to  keep  it  from  seeming  dead;  and  he  should 
inject  himself  far  enough  into  Roman  history  to  feel  the 
glow  of  that  Golden  Age  forever  imperishable.  Likewise 
the  mathematician  needs  to  know  what  arithmetic,  algebra, 
geometry,  and  trigonometry  stand  for,  what  they  are, 
what  they  mean  in  every-day  Hfe,  and  what  they  prepare 
for  in  the  higher  mathematics.  It  is  perspective  that  is 
wanted  in  this  subject,  as  in  every  other  subject  of  the 
high  school. 

Intrinsic  worths.  —  Only  by  knowing  intimately  what 
these  subjects  are  worth  in  and  of  themselves,  what  their 
practical  application  is,  and  what  they  signify  for  later 
development,  can  we  expect  our  teachers  to  put  correct 
emphasis  on  what  they  teach.  The  ignorant  teacher 
is  prone  to  drive  every  nail  home  by  the  hardest  kind  of 
knocks;  the  scholarly  teacher  knows  that  time  and  strength 
are  easily  wasted  on  trivial  topics,  while  too  much  atten- 
tion can  scarcely  be  given  to  important  matters.  What 
is  important  and  what  is  relatively  unimportant  at  any 
stage  is  well  worth  knowing.  It  is  professional  knowledge 
wliich  may  come  from  experience,  but  which  thrives  best 
when  many  minds,  and  all  of  them  acute,  are  bent  on  solving 
a  professional  problem.  This  is  one  sufficient  reason 
for  the  existence  of  the  right  kind  of  professional  school 
for  teachers.  The  school  which  does  not  make  it  a  corner 
stone  has  no  excuse  for  being. 

The  complement  of  knowledge  —  practice.  —  The  next 
factor    in    professional    traim'ng    is    technical    skill.     Im- 


124  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

portant  as  this  is  in  equipment  of  a  teacher,  or  of  any 
professional  worker,  no  one  will  claim,  I  fancy,  that  any 
considerable  amount  of  it  can  be  acquired  in  a  professional 
school.  The  young  physician  does  get  some  chance  to 
try  his  hand  in  hospital  practice,  but  nowadays  the  pro- 
spective lawyer  and  engineer  are  still  novices  on  entering 
their  life  work.  Some  direction  along  practical  lines, 
it  is  generally  admitted,  should  accompany  the  theoretical 
training  of  the  professional  course,  but  for  many  years 
there  has  been  a  steady  decrease  in  the  time  given  to 
practical  work  in  all  our  professional  schools.  In  some 
quarters,  in  medicine  for  example,  there  are  signs  of 
renewed  emphasis  upon  the  practical  side,  but  in  the 
large  I  think  it  may  be  safely  said  that  modem  profes- 
sional training  is  chiefly  concerned  with  imparting  scientific 
knowledge.  The  ideal  union  of  theory  and  practice  is 
conspicuous  for  the  absence  of  practice. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  it  will  also  be  conceded  that  to  the 
extent  which  the  young  practitioner  is  obliged  to  work 
independently  from  the  beginning  is  it  necessary  to  equip 
him  with  the  skill  requisite  to  do  his  work  acceptably. 
The  young  physician,  to  a  greater  degree  than  the  young 
lawyer  or  engineer,  is  obliged  to  work  alone;  hence  the 
demand  for  practical  training  in  the  hospital.  So  with 
the  teacher.  He  is  obliged  to  do  his  work,  under  super- 
vision, to  be  sure,  and  along  a  prescribed  course,  but  still 
to  a  large  extent  independently.  The  call  is  for  teachers 
of  experience,  and  the  experience  gained  by  practice 
teaching  is  always  considered  better  thai;  none  at  all. 
We  need  more  of  it  in  our  training  schools,  rather  than 
less. 


TRAINING  OF  THE  HIGH-SCHOOL  TEACHER  1 25 

Individual  differences.  —  It  is  important,  however, 
that  we  keep  in  mind  a  fmidamental  distinction  in  the 
quality  of  work  that  may  enter  into  a  teacher's  equipment. 
That  which  is  suited  to  one  type  of  mind  may  be  out  of 
place  with  another.  For  example,  when  we  wish  to  give 
technical  skill  to  an  artisan's  apprentice  we  see  to  it  that 
he  knows  what  he  is  to  do,  that  he  is  shown  how  to  do  it, 
and  that  he  repeats  the  operation  often  enough  to  make 
it  automatic.  The  best  results  come  from  long  practice 
without  break  or  variation.  The  artist,  on  the  other  hand, 
encourages  initiative  and  invites  variety  of  treatment. 
The  gulf  fixed  between  the  two  in  this  respect  is  one  of 
intellectual  ability.  The  lower  the  grade  of  intelligence, 
the  more  nearly  the  training  approximates  that  employed 
in  breaking  animals;  the  higher  the  grade  of  intelligence, 
the  better  the  understanding  of  what  is  to  be  done  and  of 
the  means  to  accomplish  the  purpose.  The  person  of 
high  intelUgence  is,  or  may  be,  self-directive. 

The  real  problem  of  the  training  school  for  teachers  with 
respect  to  technical  skill  is  in  the  differentiation  of  types 
according  to  intellectual  and  professional  acumen.  It 
seems  obvious  to  me  that  the  kind  and  extent  of  prac- 
tical work  appropriate  to  the  needs  of  the  normal  school 
may  not  be  best  adapted  to  the  training  of  high-school 
or  college  teachers.  It  may  well  happen  that  the  rural 
teacher  who  enters  a  normal  school  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
will  require  an  apprentice  training  strictly  analogous 
to  the  training  given  the  carpenter  or  the  plumber,  while 
the  university  graduate  at  twenty-five  may  safely  be  left 
to  his  own  devices  in  directing  a  seminar  course.  In  the 
latter  case  the  important  thing  is  that  the  teacher  knows 


126  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

his  subject,  appreciates  what  he  is  to  do,  and  has  a  Hvely 
sense  of  his  personal  responsibihty  in  getting  the  work 
done.  Success  depends  primarily  upon  the  combination 
of  knowledge  and  understanding  guided  by  high  ethical 
ideals.  The  man  of  power  will  find  his  way  even  in  the 
classroom;  the  worth  of  his  work  will  be  measured  by 
his  ethical  standards. 

The  high-school  teacher  stands  midway  between  these 
extremes.  He  is  not  overly  intelligent  but  he  is  generally 
not  an  ignoramus.  He  needs  practice  under  guidance, 
and  most  of  all  he  needs  practice  in  self-criticism  and 
self-direction. 

A  need  for  an  ethical  attitude.  —  This  leads  directly  to 
my  third  point  —  the  ethical  aim  of  instruction.  Efficiency 
in  work  presupposes  that  the  worker  have  a  clear  concep- 
tion of  what  he  is  working  for.  If  the  work  be  merely 
hewing  to  a  line,  the  line  must  stand  out  and  the  worker 
must  know  what  it  m.eans.  If  it  means  merely  a  boundary 
beyond  which  he  dare  not  go,  we  put  the  laborer  on  a  low 
plane;  if  he  sees  in  it  the  expression  of  a  scientific  calcu- 
lation of  the  strength  of  material,  or  if  he  regards  it  as  a 
unit  in  some  artistic  creation  —  above  all,  if  he  has  him- 
self drawn  the  line  and  knows  that  it  belongs  scientifically 
or  artistically  just  where  he  has  put  it,  we  place  the 
worker  unhesitatingly  in  the  professional  class.  The 
essence  of  professional  service  is  found  in  the  ethical 
attitude  of  the  worker.  All  else  is  subsidiary,  however 
essential  it  may  be  to  the  work  in  hand.  In  the  case  of 
the  teacher,  the  knowledge  of  the  subject  which  he 
teaches  is  the  instrument  which  he  uses  more  or  less  skill- 
fully in  the  accompHshment  of  his  purpose.    His  purpose 


TRAINING  OF  THE  HIGH-SCHOOL  TEACHER  1 27 

is  to  educate  by  means  of  the  formal  studies  of  the  cur- 
riculum and  the  discipline  of  the  school  used  in  such  way 
as  to  produce  the  results  desired. 

Developing  a  professional  consciousness.  —  The  chief 
criticism  of  the  high  school  is  that  it  doesn't  know  what 
it  is  doing.  Teachers  are  deluded  into  thinking  that  they 
are  teaching  Latin,  or  history,  or  mathematics,  when  they 
are  really  giving  instruction  in  fragmentary  and  unrelated 
parts  of  a  subject.  A  high-school  principal  once  told  me 
that  he  has  teachers  of  arithmetic  and  algebra  and  geom- 
etry but  no  teacher  of  mathematics.  Furthermore,  it  rarely 
happens  that  even  our  best  teachers  of  the  mathematical 
subjects  know  the  commonest  apphcations  of  mathematics 
in  industrial  and  commercial  Hfe.  Few  secondary  teachers 
have  any  real  grasp  of  the  subjects  of  the  curriculum, 
and  fewer  still  seem  to  know  that  any  subject  other  than 
their  own  has  any  excuse  for  being.  In  a  word,  teamwork 
is  conspicuously  absent  from  our  high  schools. 

This  situation  is  due  partly  to  lack  of  academic 
training,  but  largely  to  lack  of  interest  in  the  pro- 
fessional aspects  of  school  subjects  and  the  school  cur- 
riculum. Possibly  the  comprehensive  examination  will 
correct  the  academic  deficiencies,  but  the  evolution  of  a 
suitable  curriculum  and  the  making  of  character  by  means 
of  scholarly  instruction  and  moral  suasion  depend  upon 
professional  insight.  Some  teachers  seem  to  have  in- 
tuitive knowledge  of  this  kind,  but  the  best  learn  some- 
thing from  experience.  It  is  the  function  of  professional 
training  to  bring  this  knowledge  to  consciousness  and  to 
put  even  the  dullest  teacher  in  the  way  of  appreciating 
what  the  best  teacher  may  do  instinctively,  and  to  enable 


128  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

the  most  favored  to  acquire  mastery  more  surely  and 
expeditiously  than  he  otherwise  could. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  weary  my  readers  by  a  dis- 
cussion of  the  meaning  of  education  or  of  the  function 
of  education  in  a  democracy.  It  suffices  here  to  enumer- 
ate the  methods  of  securing  such  an  understanding  on  the 
part  of  young  teachers  and  to  point  out  a  rough-and- 
ready  way  of  testing  the  efficiency  of  teaching. 

Aids  to  instruction.  —  Teaching  is  no  new  art.  There 
were  teachers  worthy  of  the  name  before  books  were 
invented  or  football  was  made  a  university  discipline. 
Schools  and  school  systems  played  their  part  before 
ours  were  thought  of.  The  more  one  studies  the  history 
and  principles  of  education,  the  less  one  is  inclined  to  dis- 
agree with  the  preacher  who  declared  that  there  is  no 
new  thing  under  the  sun.  The  teacher  who  thinks  his 
problems  peculiar  to  himself  and  to  his  pupils  will  find 
light  and  inspiration  in  the  historical  accounts  of  the  work 
of  other  teachers  in  other  times.  As  a  check  on  provin- 
cial notions  of  educational  aims  and  values  I  commend  a 
comparative  study  of  the  educational  methods  and  school 
administration  of  the  leading  European  countries.  As  a 
guide  to  schoolroom  practice  we  are  just  beginning  to 
appreciate  the  value  of  modem  educational  psychology. 
It  opens  up  a  new  world  to  the  beginner  and  forces  him  to 
self-criticism.  It  helps  him  to  understand  the  learn- 
ing process  and  makes  him  conscious  of  the  way  children 
think  and  acquire  their  habits.  From  physiology  and 
hygiene  we  can  get  light  on  the  physical  well-being  of  our 
pupils.  It  were  easy  to  dwell  at  length  on  the  pos- 
sibilities of  such  studies,  all  of  which  should  have  some 


TRAINING  OF  THE  HIGH-SCHOOL  TEACHER  1 29 

part  in  the  curriculum  of  a  professional  school  for  teachers, 
but  I  prefer  to  conclude  my  argument  with  a  statement 
of  one  phase  of  the  general  subject.  It  is,  however,  only 
one  phase  of  many  which  might  be  treated  at  length.  I 
select  it  as  a  sample  because  it  has  special  value  in  second- 
ary education. 

The  obligation  of  American  schools. —  What  is  the 
essential  character  of  education  in  a  democracy  and  how 
may  we  judge  its  efficiency?  What  obligations  are  im- 
posed upon  the  American  public  school  by  virtue  of  the 
fact  that  it  is  American  and  public? 

It  is  apparent  that  there  can  be  no  great  difference  in 
opinion  regarding  the  desirabiHty  of  those  virtues  which 
make  for  character.  In  respect  to  most  of  these  we  are 
one  with  the  educators  of  other  civilized  countries,  past 
and  present.  Our  ideals  of  scholarship  and  discipline 
and  of  vocational  efficiency  may  outrun  our  practice, 
but  they  are  not  essentially  different  from  those  which 
obtain  elsewhere.  I  say  nothing  of  the  right  of  anyone 
to  seek  another  type  of  education,  or  of  the  preference 
which  anyone  may  express  for  the  private  institution 
or  for  individual  training.  I  have  now  no  quarrel  with 
those  who  think  that  art  can  be  taught  for  art's  sake,  or 
mathematics  for  the  sake  of  mathematics.  What  I  do 
insist  on  is  that  the  American  public  school,  supported 
by  pubHc  taxation,  is  under  obhgation  to  train  American 
citizens,  men  and  women  able  and  willing  to  cooperate 
with  their  fellows  in  the  attainment  of  American  ideals. 

A  new  social  order.  —  Our  mode  of  government  is  not 
our  only,  or  even  our  chief,  point  of  difference  from  other 
countries.     It  seems  to  me  from  the  educational  stand- 

TREND   IN   ED. — Q 


130  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

point  that  the  crux  of  the  matter  is  to  be  found  in  our 
social  order.  American  life  is  not  regulated  by  tradition 
of  class  or  caste;  we  have  no  controlling  institutions  of 
church  or  guild;  there  is  no  social  standard  which  is  author- 
itatively binding  on  any  American  youth.  As  yet  the 
way  is  open  to  talent  and  ability  all  along  the  line.  Our 
only  controlling  institution,  if  such  it  may  be  regarded, 
is  our  school  system  —  a  self-imposed  and  self -directed 
organ  of  our  democracy. 

Whatever  else  the  typical  American  is  or  may  be,  he  is 
alert,  progressive  and  independent.  We  expect  him  to 
be  capable  of  directing  his  personal  affairs,  of  keeping 
abreast  of  the  times,  of  initiating  reforms,  and  passing 
judgment  on  his  own  acts  and  those  of  his  fellows.  Peri- 
odically we  ask  him  to  pass  upon  questions  of  national 
policy  and  of  international  importance.  Theoretically 
the  American  voter  is  a  sovereign  in  his  own  right.  I 
am  well  aware  that  the  picture  is  easily  overdrawn  and 
that  the  American  voter  is  less  than  he  should  be,  but  if 
the  American  citizen  were  what  he  should  be,  we  should 
spell  "  Voter  "  with  a  capital  letter. 

The  fact  is  that  we  do  look  for  intelligent  self-direction 
in  every  act  of  life.  The  farmer  looks  for  it  in  his  laborers; 
the  business  man  expects  it  in  his  clerks;  the  corporations 
want  it  in  their  employees;  we  need  it  in  the  professions, 
and  count  it  a  failure  when  we  fail  to  get  it.  We  have 
no  other  criterion  so  universal  and  so  reliable  by  which 
to  judge  of  efficiency  in  American  life. 

Schooling  for  intelligent  self-direction.  —  Suppose  we 
apply  it  to  our  schools  and  school  work.  What  is  a  good 
school  in  a  system  of  schools?    Surely  one  that  knows 


TRAINING  OF  THE  HIGH-SCHOOL  TEACHER  131 

what  part  it  plays  in  the  total  scheme  and  is  capable  of 
playing  that  part  in  an  intelligent  manner.  What  is 
good  school  administration?  Surely  that  kind  of  control 
which  perniits  and  encourages  intelligent  self -direction 
in  all  parts  of  the  system.  And  yet  how  often  do  we  see 
school  systems  governed  by  autocratic  dictum  in  which 
the  component  parts  are  permitted  no  shadow  of  initiative 
and  denied  all  chance  of  self-direction.  Such  a  system 
belongs  under  a  paternal  government  in  which  laws  and 
orders  take  the  place  of  democratic  freedom.  What  is 
good  discipHne  in  a  school  or  classroom?  Is  it  the  kind 
that  is  begotten  of  fear  and  imposed  by  authority?  I 
have  heard  principals  and  teachers  read  out  on  the  opening 
days  of  school  a  list  of  penalties  for  infractions  of  the 
law,  but  I  have  never  been  persuaded  that  laws  unsupported 
by  public  opinion  are  any  more  successful  in  school  than 
outside.  The  lockstep  and  monitorial  system  no  more 
belong  by  right  in  American  schools  than  they  belong 
in  the  American  home,  or  in  public  meetings,  or  in  busi- 
ness. The  best  discipline  is  that  which  secures  the  great- 
est freedom  to  the  individual  consistent  with  the  rights 
of  his  fellows.  The  trained  observer  can  tell  at  a  glance 
whether  a  class  is  held  in  order  by  superimposed  authority 
or  is  orderly  because  all  want  to  do  some  task.  It  is  an 
impressive  and  reassuring  sight  to  see,  as  I  did  recently, 
fifteen  hundred  high-school  pupils  walk  leisurely  from  their 
classrooms  to  the  assembly  hall,  find  their  places  with- 
out confusion,  and  instantly  stop  their  conversation 
when  the  clock  indicated  the  hour  for  the  exercises  to 
begin.  Herein  is  self-control  worthy  of  American  citizen- 
ship.   To  say  to  one,  come,  and  he  cometh,  and  to  another 


132  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

go,  and  he  goeth,  may  be  an  ideal  of  military  discipline 
and  it  may  occasionally  be  necessary  in  home  and  school, 
but  the  ideal  of  discipline  in  American  schools  will  not 
be  reached  until  such  commands  are  unnecessary  to 
secure  obedience   and   effective  cooperation. 

The  tests  of  instructional  efficiency.  —  The  same  test 
may  be  applied  to  teaching.  Does  it  make  for  intelligent 
self-direction?  First  consider  the  prevaihng  method  of 
assigning  home  tasks.  How  often  the  order  is  to  solve 
the  next  twenty  problems,  to  translate  the  next  fifty  Hues, 
or  to  read  the  next  ten  pages,  with  no  instruction  on  the 
method  of  approach,  not  even  a  hint  as  to  the  purpose 
of  the  task  or  its  connection  with  what  has  gone  before. 
The  result  we  are  all  familiar  with.  Blind  guessing  at 
the  answer,  cut-and-try  methods  of  solution,  time  wasted 
in  thumbing  a  lexicon,  illegitimate  assistance  sought 
from  parents  or  fellow  pupils  —  almost  everything  except 
straightforward  learning.  From  such  a  method,  when  per- 
sistently used,  we  have  no  right  to  expect  anything  but  bad 
intellectual  habits.  Moreover,  I  am  persuaded  that  it 
ultimately  leads  to  moral  degeneracy,  because  the  prize 
goes  generally  to  the  most  dishonest  player.  The  only 
corrective  that  I  know  of  is  to  assign  tasks  that  can  be 
done  without  assistance  and  to  see  to  it  that  they  are 
worked  logically  step  by  step  from  data  already  in  the 
possession  of  the  pupil.  The  ability  to  tackle  a  problem 
courageously,  to  analyze  its  component  parts,  and  to  work 
through  it  logically,  is  of  vastly  more  account  in  school 
and  in  later  Hfe  than  the  art  of  guessing  at  the  result, 
however  brilliantly  the  guessing  may  be  done.  We  need 
to  put  greater  emphasis  on  how  pupils  learn  and  less 


TRAINING  OF  THE  HIGH-SCHOOL  TEACHER  133 

on  what  results  they  get.  If  they  are  trained  to  be  in- 
telligently self-directive  there  need  be  no  fear  of  the 
results^ 

The  functioning  of  knowledge.  —  Next  consider  class- 
room practice.  At  its  worst  it  may  be  merely  hearing 
recitations  or  a  demonstration  of  guesswork  with  black- 
board accompaniment.  It  were  a  euphemism  to  label 
such  efforts  teaching  or  instruction.  It  may  be  something 
better,  however,  and  still  not  merit  approbation.  For 
example,  much  of  the  best  teaching  we  find  in  our  schools 
and  colleges  contents  itself  with  imparting  information. 
Pupils  may  seem  interested  and  stow  away  fact  upon 
fact  against  the  duty  of  examination.  The  final  test 
may  be  satisfactory,  measured  in  percentage  of  correct 
answers.  Nevertheless  such  work  may  be  wholly  de- 
ceptive. What  is  learned  may  be  useless  because  it  is 
isolated,  or  untrustworthy  because  it  is  improperly  related 
in  the  experience  of  the  individual.  The  old-time  books 
on  arithmetic  had  a  chapter  on  AUigation  which  some  of 
us  learned  to  perfection.  It  was  isolated  knowledge 
then,  and  has  remained  imperfectly  related  to  the  experi- 
ence of  all  of  us  whose  business  is  other  than  the  blend- 
ing of  Kquors.  The  only  benefit  derived  from  that  chapter 
was  practice  in  computation,  which  might  have  been 
gained  from  any  other  arithmetical  task.  Memorizing 
of  facts  or  processes  is  of  httle  value,  even  though  an 
examination  shows  that  they  are  accurately  and  tena- 
ciously kept  in  mind,  unless  such  facts  and  processes  can 
be  used  by  the  learner.  So  much  time  and  energy  are 
wasted  in  this  way  that  one  pities  teachers  who  fail  to 
see  the  good  they  might  do.    Just  a  little  intelligent  self- 


134  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

direction  would  lead  them  to  take  the  next  step.  It  is 
highly  important  that  fundamentals  be  accurately  learned. 
The  alphabet,  multipHcation  table,  declensions,  paradigms, 
and  the  like,  must  be  memorized,  but  the  good  teacher 
does  not  stop  there  or  with  any  number  of  similar  tasks. 
He  uses  them  in  all  possible  combinations  and  permu- 
tations. He  counts  them  means  or  instruments  for  a 
higher  purpose.  One  reliable  test  of  success  is  found  in 
the  widening  intellectual  horizon  of  his  pupils;  another 
is  in  their  ability  to  use  what  they  have  in  the  acquisi- 
tion of  new  knowledge.  When  a  pupil  learns  to  direct 
himself  intelligently  in  interpreting  the  facts  of  his  own 
experience  and  in  enlarging  that  experience  by  gaining 
new  knowledge,  he  is  on  the  highroad  to  a  liberal 
education. 

Training  competent  leaders.  —  I  hav^e  dwelt  at  some 
length  on  what  I  consider  the  chief  essential  of  good 
teaching  because  we  see  so  little  of  it  in  our  high  schools, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  it  is  a  characteristic  of 
training  for  leadership  in  all  kinds  of  schools  the  world 
over.  If  we  are  to  get  competent  leaders  we  must  train 
them  to  be  intelligently  self-directive.  The  secondary 
school  exists  for  the  purpose  of  selecting  and  training, 
so  far  as  it  goes,  those  who  must  bear  the  responsibility 
that  attaches  to  the  enjoyment  of  superior  advantages. 
Historically,  the  secondary  school  exists  for  this  purpose 
and  to  this  end  it  is  supported  in  America  at  pubHc 
expense. 

The  teaching  personnel.  —  Now  that  I  have  had  my 
say,  or  tried  to  say  what  I  had  in  mind,  I  realize  that 
I  have  said  little  on  the  training  of  high-school  teachers. 


TRAINING  OF  THE  HIGH-SCHOOL  TEACHER  135 

But  I  confess  to  little  interest  in  the  routine  training  of 
secondary  teachers  or  of  any  other  teachers,  if  by  that 
is  meant  courses  of  instruction  in  formal  pedagogy  or 
predigested  pedagogic  methods.  As  I  look  at  it,  there 
are  many  ways  of  getting  educational  results.  Your 
way  may  not  be  my  way  and  your  pupils  may  dilGfer 
from  mine  in  ability,  in  accompHshment,  and  in  aim. 
So  long  as  teachers  differ  and  pupils  differ  there  can  be 
no  invariable  method.  That  is  best  which  is  best  adapted 
to  the  occasion,  all  factors  considered.  My  interest 
centers  in  ways  and  means  of  getting  teachers  who  are 
Uberally  educated,  who  know  their  subjects  and  have  the 
high  ambition  to  train  their  pupils  for  leadership  in  a 
social  order  that  demands  intelligent  self-direction.  I 
have  no  patience  with  those  who  pretend  to  esoteric  wis- 
dom by  virtue  of  their  office  or  their  training.  By  their 
fruits  ye  shall  know  them.  The  good  teacher  is  not  a 
pedant,  a  pedagogue,  or  an  egotist.  He  labors  that  others 
may  enter  into  the  fruits  of  his  labor.  Unless  it  be  guided 
by  this  ethical  ideal,  professional  training  is  useless  and 
worse  than  useless. 

Instruction  as  a  fine  art.  —  One  other  feature  of  second- 
ary education  deserves  more  than  passing  mention,  but 
in  addressing  high-school  teachers  it  were  superfluous 
to  dwell  upon  it.  I  refer  to  school  management,  the  act 
of  making  a  school  a  good  place  to  live  in.  It  is  some- 
thing acquired  by  all  good  teachers,  but,  like  skill  in 
teaching,  it  can  hardly  be  taught  to  those  who  most  need 
it.  The  satisfaction  that  comes  from  giving  instruction, 
however  artistically  the  work  may  be  done,  does  not  com- 
pare with  the  joy  of  living  with  adolescents  when  one  has 


136  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

the  ability  to  control  adolescent  emotion  and  to  direct 
adolescent  will.  That  is  the  superlatively  fine  art  of  teach- 
ing, the  birthright  of  a  few,  the  despair  of  the  many. 
Nevertheless,  few  schools  can  boast  of  having  many 
geniuses  on  their  staffs,  and  in  some  way  the  average 
teacher  must  be  trained  to  realize  the  responsibihty  of 
his  position.  School  organizations  of  many  kinds  — 
for  social  intercourse,  mutual  benefit,  recreation, 
athletics  —  springing  up  over  night  must  be  directed 
aright  or  they  will  surely  go  wrong.  Each  boy  is  a  prob- 
lem, each  girl  an  enigma,  and  yet  the  well-being  of  the 
school  demands  instinctive,  prompt,  sympathetic,  ef- 
fective action  on  the  part  of  those  who  stand  in  loco 
parentis.  I  mention  this,  not  because  our  high-school 
teachers  are  ignorant  of  their  duties  or  neglectful  of  their 
opportunities  —  in  my  experience  they  are  prodigal  to 
a  fault  of  their  time  and  energy  when  their  pupils  are  in 
need  of  personal  guidance  —  but  because  I  want  to  sug- 
gest a  way  of  measuring  the  efficiency  of  their  action. 
I  would  apply  the  same  test  that  I  use  in  other  forms  of 
school  work.  Is  the  fraternal  society  intelligently  self- 
directive?  Can  the  debating  club  single  out  a  worthy 
topic  for  discussion,  attack  it  logically,  reach  sane  con- 
clusions and  maintain  self-control  in  doing  it?  Does  the 
athletic  team  stand  on  its  own  feet,  fight  its  own  battles, 
and  win  its  prizes  as  men  do  who  struggle  honestly  for 
the  prizes  in  business?  Is  the  boy  who  needs  correction 
encouraged  to  face  his  problem  rationally  and  work  out 
his  own  salvation,  or  is  he  told  what  to  do  and  commanded 
to  do  it,  or  worse  still,  is  he  made  a  dependent  upon  some 
stronger  personality?     These  are  questions  which  every 


TRAINING  OF  THE  HIGH-SCHOOL  TEACHER  137 

teacher,  he  who  is  bom  as  well  as  he  who  is  made,  may 
profitably  put  to  himself.  The  professional  school  may 
help  him  find  his  way,  but  only  experience  under  wise 
guidance  will  bring  the  answer. 

Proficiency  standards  in  training.  —  I  have  a  word  to 
say  to  the  college  professor  and  the  school  superintendent. 
The  training  of  high-school  teachers  is  a  work  in  which 
they  are  both  vitally  interested  and  in  which  they  should 
take  a  part.  Unfortunately,  neither  has  as  yet  seen  fit 
to  recognize  the  obligation.  The  college  teacher  is  prone 
to  give  his  recommendation  as  soon  as  the  student  has 
acquired  a  smattering  of  his  subject.  Colleges  should 
know  better  than  to  turn  loose  the  average  graduate  on 
unoffending  children.  The  college  department  of  mathe- 
matics does  not  consider  its  graduates  engineers,  or  the 
department  of  physiology  its  graduates  physicians.  Why 
should  they  think  the  college  student  of  Latin  a  fit  teacher 
of  Latin?  And  how  does  the  superintendent  of  schools 
justify  himself  in  putting  the  novice  in  teaching,  even  a 
graduate  of  our  best  professional  schools,  in  independent 
charge  of  a  class?  When  it  is  known  that  so  much  of 
our  academic  training  is  faulty  and  that  professional 
training  at  best  is  only  a  preparation  for  service,  how  is 
it  that  no  provision  is  made  for  a  period  of  probationary 
teaching  under  competent  guidance?  I  venture  to  say 
that  if  our  colleges  should  treat  the  profession  of  teaching 
as  they  do  other  professions,  and  if  our  school  system 
should  provide  adequate  apprentice  training,  we  should 
have  no  excuse  to  spend  a  session  in  discussing  the  theme 
of  this  afternoon.  The  main  reason  why  we  talk  so  much 
on  this  subject  and   say  so  little  is  that  the  two  dominant 


138  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

influences  in  shaping  the  preparation  of  teachers  are  in 
league  to  hinder  progress.  Let  the  colleges  refuse  to 
sanction  poor  teaching  and  let  the  schools  make  it  pos- 
sible for  a  teacher  to  perfect  his  art,  and  we  shall  soon 
have  teachers  who  can  do  professional  work.  Until  that 
time  we  shall  waste  our  breath  in  talking,  and  the  crafts- 
men in  our  schools  will  head  straight  for  trade-unionism. 
If  that  is  what  you  want  you  will  surely  get  it  without 
effort.  But  that  is  not  what  you  want;  you  want  some- 
thing better.  The  time  is  ripe  for  a  change.  The  public 
is  dissatisfied  with  what  is  being  done.  Greater  efficiency 
is  the  watchword  of  the  hour,  and  with  greater  efficiency 
go  better  remuneration  and  more  certain  professional 
standing.  It  is  the  high  privilege  of  some  of  us  to  help 
make  a  few  teachers  more  worthy  of  their  positions. 
We  need  cooperation  in  a  task  which  combines  in  highest 
degree  professional  service  with  patriotic  duty. 

The  trinity  of  professional  service.  —  In  summary,  I 
repeat  that  the  professional  training  of  the  high-school 
teacher  follows  a  course  of  general  training  which  should 
give  sound  scholarship  and  breadth  of  view  character- 
istic of  the  culture  such  as  may  be  best  acquired  in  a  good 
college  course.  The  distinctive  professional  factors  in 
a  teacher's  training  are  (i)  specialized  knowledge  of  the 
subjects  to  be  taught,  including  their  relations  to  other 
subjects  of  the  curriculum  and  their  applications  to  every- 
day life,  (2)  technical  skill  in  teaching,  and  (3)  the  ethical 
aim  of  education.  The  perfection  of  the  teacher's  equip- 
ment along  all  these  lines  is  a  fife  work,  but  the  profes- 
sional school  may  make  a  beginning  by  putting  the  novice 
in  the  way  of  understanding  what  others  have  done  and 


TRAINING  OF  THE  HIGH-SCHOOL  TEACHER  1 39 

are  doing,  and  by  making  him  self-critical  and  self- 
directive  with  respect  to  his  own  work  The  greatest  need 
to-day  in  the  development  of  professional  training  for 
high-school  teachers  is  the  cooperation  of  the  colleges  and 
the  schools  —  of  the  colleges  by  way  of  making  suitable 
preparation  for  professional  study,  and  of  the  schools  by 
way  of  providing  adequate  means  for  giving  apprentice 
training  under  competent  guidance. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

SPECIALISM  IN  EDUCATION  ^ 

THE  finest  portrait  of  the  general  practitioner, 
drawn  in  our  time,  is  that  of  the  Scotch  doctor 
in  Beside  the  Bonnie  Brier  Bush.^  "There  were 
no  specialists  in  Drumtochty,  so  this  man  had  to  do  every- 
thing as  best  he  could,  and  as  quickly.  He  was  chest 
doctor,  and  doctor  for  every  other  organ  as  well;  he  was 
accoucheur  and  surgeon;  he  was  oculist  and  aurist;  he 
was  dentist  and  chloroformist,  besides  being  chemist 
and  druggist."  For  fifty  years  he  rode  up  and  down  the 
glen,  in  fair  weather  and  foul,  through  snowdrifts  and 
flooded  fords,  to  bring  consolation  and  health  to  the 
sick  and  suffering  in  his  district.  His  presence  inspired 
confidence  —  "the  verra  look  o'  him  wes  victory";  "a 
blister  for  the  ootside  an'  Epsom  salts  for  the  inside  dis  his 
wark,  an'  they  say  there's  no  an  herb  on  the  hills  he  disna 
ken." 

But  when  the  life  of  Annie  Mitchell,  Tammas'  wife, 
was  ebbing  slowly  away.  Dr.  MacLure  reached  the  limit 
of  his  skill.  Then  one  hour's  work  of  the  city  speciaHst 
brought  relief  to  the  distracted  husband  and  joy  to  every 
heart  in  the  glen.  No  one  rejoiced,  however,  more  than 
the  old  doctor  who  saw  himself  eclipsed;  while  the  great 
specialist  learned  enough  in  his  short  visit  to  enable  him 

lA  revised  reprint  from  tne  American  Schoolmaster,  September,  1913.  used  by 
courtesy  of  the  publishers. 

2  These  extracts  from  Ian  Maclaren's  Beside  the  Bonnie  Brier  Bush  are  used  by  special 
arrangement  with  the  publishers,  Dodd,  Mead  and  Company,  Inc. 

140 


SPECIALISM  IN  EDUCATION  14I 

to  measure  the  country  physician  at  his  true  worth.  At 
the  parting  the  Queen's  physician  turned  to  the  old  doctor, 
rough,  gaunt,  ill-clothed,  scarred  by  many  an  accident 
and  bowed  by  the  weight  of  years,  — "  Give's  another 
shake  of  the  hand,  MacLure;  I'm  proud  to  have  met  you; 
you  are  an  honor  to  our  profession." 

In  another  chapter  of  the  same  book,  a  book,  by  the  way, 
that  is  fit  to  rank  with  the  best  educational  classics, 
is  a  sketch  of  a  great  teacher,  a  general  practitioner  who 
is  also  an  honor  to  his  profession.  "  He  could  detect  a 
scholar  in  the  egg,  and  prophesied  Latinity  from  a  boy 
that  seemed  fit  only  to  be  a  cowherd.  ...  He 
had  a  leaning  to  classics  and  the  professions,  but  Domsie 
was  catholic  in  his  recognition  of  'pairts'.  .  .  .  " 
But  it  was  Latin  Domsie  hunted  for  as  for  fine  gold,  and 
when  he  found  the  smack  of  it  in  a  lad  he  rejoiced  openly. 
He  counted  it  a  day  in  his  life  when  he  knew  certainly 
that  he  had  hit  on  another  scholar."  His  triumph  came 
when  George  Howe,  one  of  his  own  lads  of  "pairts," 
carried  off  the  medal  from  the  university  in  both  humanity 
and  Greek. 

A  life  of  professional  service.  —  The  sketch  puts  master 
and  pupil  in  the  foreground.  Apparatus  and  equipment, 
even  books  and  schoolhouse,  are  barely  mentioned.  "  Per- 
haps one  ought  to  have  been  ashamed  of  that  school- 
house,  but  yet  it  had  its  own  distinction,  for  scholars 
were  bom  there,  and  now  and  then  to  this  day  some 
famous  man  will  come  and  stand  in  the  deserted  play- 
ground for  a  space."  And  well  he  may,  for  the  place  is 
hallowed  by  the  associations  of  a  life  of  devoted  service  — 
a  service  that  is  professional  in  highest  degree.    Fortunate, 


142  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

thrice  fortunate,  is  the  man  who  can  find  in  some  class- 
room, long  since  deserted  or  now  echoing  to  the  sound  of 
strangers'  voices,  inducement  to  meditation  and  cause 
for  thankfulness.  And  thrice  fortunate  the  teacher 
whose  memory  compels  man  to  bless  him. 

The  vogue  of  specialization.  —  One  hears  it  said  now- 
adays that  the  general  practitioner  is  passing,  that  the 
age  of  specialism  has  succeeded  the  happy  time  when 
everyone  knew  everything  and  could  do  everything  that 
was  to  be  done.  To  a  certain  extent  it  may  be  true, 
but  it  is  not  the  whole  truth.  True  it  is  that  the  special- 
ist flourishes  in  these  times  like  a  green  bay  tree.  He  is 
recognized  by  the  mighty  and  lauded  by  all  the  world. 
And  by  the  acid  test,  I  mean  by  the  size  of  the  fees  he 
charges,  one  knows  surely  that  the  specialist  has  come 
into  his  own.  If  one  wants  a  mountain  tunneled,  a  river 
bridged,  or  the  east  and  the  west  joined  by  a  canal,  the 
specialist  can  be  found  to  do  it;  if  one  wants  a  seedless 
orange,  drought-resisting  alfalfa,  or  a  new  breed  of  com, 
the  specialist  can  be  found  to  produce  it;  if  one  wants  to 
rid  a  city  of  yellow  fever,  find  a  serum  for  diphtheria,  or  fit 
up  a  partially  furnished  human  body  with  organs  discarded 
by  their  former  owners,  the  specialist  can  be  found  to  do  it. 
Moreover,  when  we  want  to  find  a  cure  for  cancer,  to  walk 
with  seven-leagued  boots,  or  to  communicate  with  Mars, 
we  have  faith  that  some  day  the  specialist  will  be  found 
who  can  do  it.  We  have  reached  the  stage  of  evolution 
when  nothing  seems  incomprehensible  or  unattainable. 

A  connecting  link.  —  But  however  overwhelming  the 
vogue  of  the  specialist,  the  days  of  the  general  practitioner 
have  not  passed  and  they  will  not  pass.     Just  in  propor- 


SPECIALISM  IN  EDUCATION  1 43 

tion  as  the  specialist  withdraws  himself  from  everyday 
contact  with  men  and  affairs,  just  to  that  extent  is  it 
necessary  to  have  mediators  between  him  and  those 
through  whom  he  works  or  for  whom  his  work  is  done. 
The  man  who  designs  the  bridge,  lays  out  the  tunnel, 
or  conceives  the  canal  depends  for  his  success  on  the  fore- 
man and  workers  on  the  job.  The  specialist  in  horti- 
culture or  agronomy  may  discover  the  new  type,  but 
it  is  the  gardener  or  the  farmer  who  brings  the  type  to 
fruition.  The  speciahst  in  medicine  or  surgery  finds  a 
new  way  of  controUing  disease,  but  it  is  the  family  doctor 
who  brings  it  to  our  homes  or  goes  with  us  to  the  hospital 
when  our  need  outruns  his  skill.  The  general  practitioner 
is  the  connecting  Hnk  between  those  who  can  give  and 
those  who  wish  to  receive. 

Placing  the  emphasis.  —  The  strength  of  the  specialist 
is  in  what  he  knows  and  can  do;  his  weakness  is  in  his 
narrowness  and  lack  of  experience  with  the  forces  and 
influences  outside  his  own  sphere.  The  strength  of  the 
general  practitioner  is  in  his  knowledge  of  the  world  and  of 
human  nature;  his  weakness  lies  in  his  inabiUty  to  be 
expert  in  everything  at  once.  The  distinction,  as  I  see 
it,  is  mainly  a  matter  of  emphasis,  having  to  do  on  the 
one  hand  with  the  extent  of  one's  work  and  on  the  other 
hand  with  one's  attitude  towards  it.  Everybody  may 
be  a  specialist  in  something  and  a  general  practitioner  in 
many  other  things  at  the  same  time.  Whatever  contradic- 
tion exists  is  due  to  the  contest  between  high  efficiency 
within  narrow  limits  and  general  ability  in  a  larger  field. 

Specialization  in  education.  —  In  the  field  of  educa- 
tion we  are  coming  to  recognize  the  existence  of  specialists. 


144  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

Formerly  the  country  teacher  was  a  country  teacher; 
the  grade  teacher  a  grade  teacher;  the  high-school  teacher 
a  high-school  teacher.  Even  the  college  professor  enjoyed 
the  distinction  of  belonging  to  a  type  of  his  own.  But 
how  rapidly  is  all  this  changing.  The  rural  teacher  is 
now  expected  to  be  expert  in  agriculture  or  the  household 
arts  or  in  both  of  them,  and  in  rural  economy  besides. 
The  grade  teacher  is  coming  to  be  known  as  a  primary 
teacher,  or  a  grammar-school  teacher,  if,  happily,  she 
escapes  being  labeled  by  the  exact  number  of  the  grade 
to  which  she  is  consigned.  In  the  secondary  field  we  no 
longer  have  the  general  practitioner,  except  in  schools 
too  poor  to  afford  the  specialist  in  English,  or  Latin,  or 
mathematics.  The  teacher  of  science  has  given  way  to 
the  specialist  in  physics  or  chemistry  or  biology.  Nature 
study  is  breaking  up  into  bits  in  places  where  nature  is 
viewed  in  fragments.  The  college  professor  has  been 
inoculated  with  the  Ph.D.  virus  and  has  come  out  of  it 
pockmarked  with  the  German  university.  In  fact,  we 
no  longer  have  colleges  of  the  old  type,  but  instead  we  have 
hybrid  institutions  —  part  school,  part  university.  And 
the  end  is  not  yet.  Experts,  real  or  fancied,  are  springing 
up  everywhere.  Experts  in  supervision  and  administration, 
experts  in  school  surveys,  experts  in  accounting,  experts 
in  child  study,  experts  in  farm  demonstration,  experts  in 
corn  clubs  and  tomato  clubs,  experts  in  everything  that 
anybody  wants  and  for  which  a  comfortable  salary  is 
forthcoming. 

It  were  easy  to  poke  fun  at  the  popular  craze  for 
specialization  in  education,  but  the  situation  is  far  too 
serious  to  warrant  ridicule  or  justify  levity  at  the  expense 


SPECIALISM  IN  EDUCATION  145 

of  either  the  budding  specialist  or  the  educational  reformer. 
Within  the  past  ten  years  we  have  seen  an  almost  complete 
revolution  in  public  opinion  with  respect  to  public  educa- 
tion. Few  of  us  are  so  young  as  not  to  recall  the  time 
when  it  was  professionally  dangerous  to  advocate  voca- 
tional training,  but  to-day  it  is  a  sure  mark  of  the  old 
fogy  to  oppose  it.  The  grip  of  this  new  idea  on  the  pub- 
lic mind  is  clearly  shown  in  the  enormous  sums  of  money 
now  annually  voted  for  public  funds  for  the  promotion 
of  the  practical  arts  of  agriculture,  industry,  commerce 
and  home-making.  And  in  true  American  fashion  mil- 
lions of  money  are  being  poured  out  for  these  purposes 
before  schools  have  been  established  or  teachers  trained 
for  the  work;  or  even  before  it  is  surely  known  that 
children  can  be  found  to  accept  the  new  kind  of 
schooling.  What  matters  it,  so  the  public  seems  to 
think,  whether  the  money  be  wisely  spent;  we  want 
results,  and  it  is  the  business  of  schools  and  teachers  to 
give  us  what  we  want. 

Needs  in  special  fields.  —  The  seriousness  of  the  situa- 
tion Hes  in  the  fact  that  we  have  at  present  neither  the 
teachers  nor  the  means  of  getting  the  teachers  to  do  this 
work.  For  fifty  years  we  have  been  building  up  a  system 
of  normal  schools  for  the  training  of  teachers  who  may 
be  called  general  practitioners  in  elementary  and  second- 
ary education.  Now,  of  a  sudden,  the  call  comes  for 
specialists  of  infinite  variety  —  teachers  of  carpentry 
and  cabinet-making,  of  Uthography  and  printing,  of 
blacksmithing  and  molding  and  founding,  of  machine 
work  and  tool  cutting,  of  house  decoration  and  furniture 
design,  of  agriculture  and  farm  demonstration,  of  garden- 

TREND   IN   ED. —  lO 


146  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

ing  and  horticulture,  of  cooking,  dressmaking,  millinery 
and  laundering,  of  music  and  the  fine  arts,  of  physical 
training  and  nursing  —  only  to  mention  a  few  of  the  special 
demands  made  upon  me  within  a  few  months.  It  is 
impossible  to  satisfy  these  demands.  All  of  the  normal 
schools,  departments  of  education,  and  special  training 
schools  in  this  country  together  cannot  meet  the  needs  of  a 
single  state.  The  city  of  New  York  alone  needs  to-day 
more  competent  teachers  in  these  special  fields  than  all  of 
the  training  schools  of  the  United  States  will  turn  out  in 
the  next  few  years. 

What  will  the  harvest  be?  Why,  surely  this:  The^ity 
of  New  York,  the  state  of  Michigan,  and  all  the  other  states 
will  put  teachers  to  work  who  will  not  know  their  business, 
but  who  will  draw  salaries  and  hold  their  jobs  till  a  merciful 
Providence  disposes  of  some  by  death  or  old  age  and  fills 
their  places  with  better  material.  Meantime  our  train- 
ing schools  must  struggle  on  with  inadequate  support, 
trying  to  make  bricks  without  straw.  We  know,  how- 
ever, from  past  experience,  that  the  only  way  to  get  more 
straw  is  to  turn  out  our  tale  of  bricks,  each  one  better  than 
the  last. 

A  foundation  for  citizenship.  —  This  latest  innovation 
in  public  education  has  come  to  stay.  Make  no  mistake 
on  that  score.  It  is  not  a  passing  fancy.  It  has  its  roots 
deep  down  in  the  economic  consciousness  of  our  people. 
It  is  a  phase  of  the  struggle  for  existence.  Our  population 
is  increasing;  our  natural  resources  and  our  unimproved 
land  remain  fixed  or  tend  to  diminish.  Two  must  some 
day  live  where  one  lives  now,  and  then  three  and  four. 
Men  live  together  peaceably  when  all  are  well  fed,  but 


SPECIALISM  IN  EDUCATION  147 

let  some  hunger  for  food  and  you  have  trouble.  A  few 
go  hungry  now;  more  will  be  hungry  next  year  and  the 
next.  Then  look  out  for  more  trouble.  The  present 
trend  in  education  has  regard  for  the  time  when  the  man 
who  is  inefficient  will  be  a  disturber  of  the  peace,  and  the 
demand  for  a  new  type  of  education  is  the  groping  of  the 
public  mind  for  a  solution  of  this  great  economic  problem. 
It  cannot  be  explained  away;  it  ought  not  to  be  disregarded 
by  those  who  see  in  education  something  more  than 
finger  play  and  the  acquisition  of  skill.  Indeed,  the  time 
is  coming  when  those  who  cherish  the  highest  ideals  of 
education  will  find  the  ground  swept  from  under  their 
feet,  unless  they  realize  that  in  order  to  make  life  worth 
living  men  must  be  taught  to  live  decently.  The  man  who 
can  do  something  well  will  surely  take  pride  in  his  work, 
as  well  as  get  a  decent  Hving  from  it.  Pride  in  one's 
work  and  the  abihty  to  gain  a  competence  from  it  —  these 
are  the  foundation  upon  which  conservative  citizenship 
rests.  These  are  the  ends  towards  which  vocational 
training  strives. 

Trends  toward  specialization.  —  The  tendency  to 
specialization  has  been  strongly  marked  in  our  national 
life  for  more  than  fifty  years.  It  has  developed  in  response 
to  the  demand  for  more  efficient  service.  First  felt  in 
the  field  of  the  mechanical  and  industrial  arts,  Morrill 
land  grants  stimulated  the  movement  during  the  time  of 
national  peril  in  the  sixties,  and  from  that  time  to  this 
there  has  been  no  halt  in  the  evolution  of  professional 
training.  The  university  has  grown  out  of  the  college 
purposely,  to  provide  more  highly  specialized  courses 
in  the  training  of  experts,  and  every  kind  of  professional 


148  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

school  that  I  know  of  has  enormously  expanded  its  cur- 
riculum in  response  to  the  popular  call  for  more  highly 
trained  specialists.  Compare  the  engineering  curriculum 
of  to-day  with  the  course  of  study  called  engineering 
forty  years  ago.  Do  the  same  with  the  schools  of  agri- 
culture, of  medicine,  and  of  law.  Then  go  over  the  list  of 
new  professional  schools  established  in  the  last  twenty 
years  —  schools  of  dentistry,  ceramics,  lithography,  print- 
ing, nursing,  chiropody;  Christian  science  at  one  extreme, 
and  at  the  other  extreme  the  great  foundations  for  research 
in  the  natural  sciences,  medicine  and  surgery,  endowed 
by  a  Rockefeller,  a  Phipps,  or  a  Carnegie.  Vocational 
training  for  the  boy  or  girl  who  leaves  school  at  fourteen 
years  of  age  and  the  most  specialized  research  work  under 
the  Carnegie  Foundation  are  part  and  parcel  of  the  same 
educational  movement.  This  tendency  to  specialization 
is  the  dominant  educational  characteristic  of  our  time. 

Meeting  the  demand  for  educational  specialists.  — 
Considering  the  signs  of  the  times,  what  response  should 
our  training  schools  for  teachers  make?  What  need  have 
we  for  general  practitioners  in  education?  What  demand 
is  there  for  specialists?  What  are  the  qualifications  for 
experts  in  education  and  how  shall  experts  be  made? 

Until  very  recently  the  training  schools  for  teachers 
have  been  of  one  type,  and  that  type  has  been  the  normal 
school.  Until  within,  say,  ten  years  the  university  schools 
of  education  have  really  been  academic  institutions, 
and  only  a  few  of  them  have  yet  grown  out  of  that  stage. 
So  far  as  differentiation  has  taken  place,  the  difference 
between  them  is  that  the  normal  school  has  emphasized 
training  for  elementary  work  and  the  university  school 


SPECIALISM  IN  EDUCATION  I49 

has  emphasized  the  training  for  secondary  work.  But, 
as  everyone  knows,  there  has  been  and  is  still  much  over- 
lapping. In  one  respect  both  are  alike;  both  are  engaged 
in  training  the  novice  for  whatever  work  offers  surest 
employment  and  brings  quickest  returns.  Most  American 
training  schools  for  teachers  are  engaged  in  turning  out 
general  practitioners. 

Training  the  educational  practitioner.  —  A  cursory 
examination  of  the  curricula  of  training  schools  of  every 
grade  discloses  a  striking  similarity  in  the  scope  and 
content  of  the  courses  offered.  First  will  be  noted  the 
fundamental  courses  common  to  all.  These  are  quite 
generally  psychology,  and  the  history  and  principles  of 
education.  Next  come  courses  in  methodology,  which  are 
specialized  according  to  the  standard  subjects  of  the 
curricula  in  elementary  and  secondary  schools.  Beyond 
this  point  there  is  considerable  variety,  but  so  far  as  I 
can  find  there  is  no  efficient  cause  for  it  except  the  personal 
preferences  and  institutional  idiosyncrasies.  Whatever 
difference  exists  is  due  more  to  the  age  and  academic  fitness 
of  the  student-body  than  to  the  character  of  the  work  that 
individual  students  will  later  be  called  upon  to  do. 

The  status  of  teachers'  training  schools  to-day  is  very 
similar  to  that  of  medicine,  or  engineering,  or  agriculture 
twenty  years  ago.  These  technical  schools  were  then 
providing  a  general  curriculum  and  their  graduates  were 
general  practitioners.  Within  the  period  under  review, 
however,  these  schools  have  not  only  greatly  strengthened 
the  scientific  content  of  their  fundamental  courses,  but  they 
have  added  to  their  offerings  a  surprising  number  of 
highly  specialized  courses*.    The  result  is  that  while  they 


150  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

still  train  the  general  practitioner,  they  give  him  a  more 
specialized  training  and  also  make  it  possible  for  a  few 
of  their  best  graduates  to  become  expert  in  some  particular 
field. 

The  problem  of  training  teachers  differs  somewhat  from 
the  problem  of  training  other  professional  workers.  First, 
more  teachers  are  needed,  very  many  more,  than  workers 
in  any  other  profession.  Second,  the  salaries  paid  to 
many  teachers  do  not  justify  a  long  period  of  training,  or 
permit  of  rigid  academic  requirement.  Third,  teachers 
are  generally  denied  that  free  and  open  competition 
which  leads  to  eminence  in  most  other  professional  lines. 
Fourth,  teachers  are  civil  servants  and  are  dependent 
upon  the  will  of  the  pubHc  for  their  tenure  of  ofhce.  These 
facts  have  to  be  reckoned  with,  and  they  generally  operate 
to  depress  the  level  of  professional  service. 

The  demand  for  the  educational  expert.  —  But  when  all 
is  said  that  can  be  said  to  excuse  stagnation  in  the  training 
of  teachers  and  to  justify  conservation  in  the  teaching 
profession,  the  fact  remains  that  there  is  a  growing  demand 
for  more  expert  teachers  and  better  equipped  educa- 
tional leaders.  It  is  this  call  for  something  more  and 
something  better  that  we  must  heed. 

There  is  no  need,  I  assume,  to  argue  the  proposition 
that  the  state  must  continue  to  provide  schools  for  the 
training  of  the  army  of  teachers,  elementary  and  secondary, 
needed  every  year  to  fill  the  gaps  in  the  ranks.  The  need 
is  so  great  and  the  economic  pressure  so  keen  that  many 
normal  schools  must  be  maintained  solely  for  the  purpose 
of  keeping  our  educational  system  from  retrogression. 
The  duty  of  such  training  schools  is  clear  to  all.     They 


SPECIALISM  IN  EDUCATION  151 

stand  in  the  breach  and  must  do  the  best  they  can  with 
the  means  and  material  at  their  command.  Until  the 
teacher's  life  is  made  more  agreeable,  tenure  more  secure, 
and  remuneration  more  adequate,  many  state  normal 
schools  will  be  forced  to  sacrifice  professional  ideals  to 
popular  expediency.  Some  that  I  know  are  showing  a 
heroism  that  merits  the  compliment  paid  to  the  old  Scotch 
doctor  —  we  are  proud  to  know  them;  they  are  an  honor 
to  our  profession. 

The  trend  of  the  times  is  first  to  provide  general  prac- 
titioners and  then  to  make  a  few  of  the  general  practitioners 
really  expert  in  a  particular  field.  In  education  this  means 
that  a  way  should  be  found  to  single  out  those  fit  for  special 
service,  and  that  provision  be  made  for  giving  them  special- 
ized training.  If  the  exigencies  of  the  situation  force 
ninety-five  out  of  every  hundred  teachers  into  routine  work, 
it  is  all  the  more  important  that  the  other  five  be  qualified 
to  lead  the  ninety-five  aright.  If  all  cannot  be  experts, 
the  greater  the  need  of  some  experts.  And  when  I  say 
experts,  I  do  not  mean  solely  principals  and  superin- 
tendents and  supervisors.  The  influence  of  one  superior 
teacher  of  Latin,  or  geography,  or  mathematics  can  be 
made  to  pervade  a  whole  city  system.  The  person  who 
knows  and  can  do,  is  the  expert,  whether  he  be  in  surgery, 
criminal  law,  or  animal  husbandry,  or  in  teaching  reading 
in  the  first  grade,  mathematics  in  the  high  school,  or  phi- 
losophy in  the  college.  The  time  is  coming  when  expert- 
ness  will  be  as  highly  prized  in  the  teachers  as  in  the 
administrative  ofiicer,  and  I  am  confident  that  some 
schools  some  day  will  find  a  substantial  way  of  recognizing 
superior  merit,  however  it  may  be  shown. 


152  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

Equipping  the  expert.  —  The  obviously  correct  pro- 
cedure in  making  educational  experts  is  first  to  make 
good  general  practitioners  —  teachers  who  have  some- 
thing to  teach  and  know  how  to  teach  it;  teachers  well 
grounded  in  academic  subjects  who  have  acquired  by 
training  and  reflection  an  all-round  view  of  educational 
aims  and  values,  and  who  have  learned  by  practical  ex- 
perience how  best  to  give  professional  service.  The  next 
step  is  to  provide  the  general  practitioner  with  a  body  of 
specialized  knowledge  and  equip  him  with  superior  skill 
in  some  particular  line  of  work.  Knowledge  and  skill 
focused  on  a  particular  problem  are  the  chief  factors  in 
the  solution  of  the  problem. 

Great  as  is  our  need  for  properly  equipped  teachers, 
there  is  little  prospect  of  our  getting  many  of  them.  So, 
too,  our  ideals  of  training  educational  experts  will  not 
soon  be  realized.  Just  as  we  are  forced  to  compromise 
with  the  public  in  the  training  of  the  novice,  so  are  our 
efforts  to  make  good  specialists  likely  to  prove  abortive. 
Nevertheless,  the  work  must  go  on.  Here  and  there 
an  institution  will  be  justified  in  devoting  its  whole  strength 
to  specialized  instruction,  and  it  may  well  be  that  every 
teachers'  training  school  can  perform  some  part  of  the 
task.  The  task  itself  is  to  find  out  what  to  do  and  how 
to  do  it.  It  is  a  task  of  heroic  proportions  —  one  that 
dwarfs   every   other   educational   problem    of   our   time. 

Responsibilities  of  educational  institutions.  —  The  in- 
stitution which  dedicates  itself  to  specialism  in  education 
assumes  a  grave  responsibility.  In  so  far  as  it  is  successful 
its  graduates  will  lead  in  educational  thought  and  practice 
and  exercise  a  dominant  influence  in  shaping  educational 


SPECIALISM  IN  EDUCATION  1 53 

affairs.    The  danger  is  that  we  may  send  out  blind  teachers 
of  the  blind. 

Sound  learning  as  an  asset.  —  My  experience  in  an 
institution  which  has  been  specializing  in  education  as  long 
as  any  other,  leads  me  to  the  conclusion  that  a  teachers' 
college  cannot  neglect  a  few  very  definite  rules  of  procedure. 
They  are  so  obvious  to  me  as  to  seem  axiomatic.  First, 
a  teachers'  college,  while  a  professional  school  and  working 
solely  towards  professional  ends,  should  prize  sound  learn- 
ing as  its  principal  asset.  The  chief  hindrance  to  good 
teaching  is  lack  of  knowledge,  academic  and  professional. 
The  greatest  obstacle  in  the  way  of  professional  advance- 
ment to-day  is  the  ignorance  of  those  charged  with  educa- 
tional leadership  in  school  and  in  public  life.  So  long  as 
we  don't  know  scientifically  what  should  be  done  or  how 
to  do  it  —  know  it  in  such  a  way  that  any  rational  being 
who  takes  the  trouble  to  examine  the  proofs  will  be 
convinced  —  so  long  will  the  conduct  of  school  affairs 
be  a  matter  of  opinion.  And  where  opinion  prevails  the 
ward  politician  will  always  win.  Our  first  duty  then, 
as  I  see  it,  is  to  encourage  research  and  investigation  in 
every  Hne  of  school  work.  In  some  departments  it  means  a 
specially  selected  body  of  academic  knowledge,  as,  for 
example,  that  which  a  teacher  of  high-school  mathematics 
should  know;  in  other  departments  it  means  scientific 
research  into  the  psychologic  foundations  of  the  learning 
process;  and  again  it  means  such  a  knowledge  of  municipal 
administration  as  to  make  of  school  management  a  science 
as  well  as  an  art.  The  great  object  is  to  bring  under 
scientific  control  the  traditional  arts  of  school-keeping 
and  school-teaching. 


154  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

Knowledge  for  professional  ends.  —  The  second  axiom 
is  that  a  teachers'  college  should  use  knowledge  for  pro- 
fessional ends.  A  university  department  of  education 
might  conceivably  pursue  research  and  investigation 
regardless  of  its  outcome,  but  a  professional  school  for  the 
training  of  educational  experts  cannot  afford  to  neglect 
the  practical  application  of  approved  facts.  A  teachers' 
college,  in  other  words,  must  be  a  school  of  both  pure  and 
applied  science.  I  have  little  faith  in  the  ability  of  any 
one  to  draw  the  line  between  the  two  aspects  of  higher 
study,  but  if  it  can  be  done,  then  the  teachers'  college  must 
be  found  in  the  field  of  applied  science.  Our  success 
depends  upon  our  ability  to  use  correctly  the  knowledge 
of  facts  and  processes  concerned  in  education.  Our  work, 
therefore,  has  a  twofold  aspect  —  first,  the  pursuit  of 
knowledge  that  will  stand  the  test,  and,  second,  learning 
how  to  use  such  knowledge  skillfully  for  the  benefit  of 
society. 

Cutting  academic  red  tape.  —  A  third  axiom  relates  to 
the  conditions  under  which  we  work.  A  teachers'  college 
must  be  free  to  pursue  its  work  without  overmuch  regard  to 
academic  traditions.  While  some  sort  of  connection 
with  a  university  is  highly  desirable,  both  for  the  sake  of 
the  inspiration  gained  from  workers  in  other  fields,  and  the 
contributions  that  come  from  those  not  directly  concerned 
in  our  work,  there  is  danger,  nevertheless,  that  too  close  a 
union  may  stifle  the  life  of  the  young  professional  school 
with  the  windings  of  academic  red  tape.  A  teachers' 
college,  if  it  deserves  to  exist  as  something  apart  from  a 
collegiate  course,  must,  like  a  university  department,  and 
every  other  professional  school,  be  given  freedom  to  develop 


SPECIALISM  IN  EDUCATION  1 55 

its  field.  The  spirit  of  its  work,  its  esprit  de  corps,  and  its 
mode  of  giving  instruction  must  develop  normally  and 
naturally  according  to  its  needs.  This  can't  be  done 
if  some  extraneous  power  decides  ex  cathedra  that  certain 
lines  of  work,  generally  those  nearest  akin  to  those  already 
in  existence,  are  worthy  of  university  recognition,  and 
certain  other  lines  to  which  they  are  strangers  are  unworthy 
of  recognition.  In  a  teachers'  college  the  methods  of 
teaching  spelling,  or  memorizing  a  Latin  declension, 
or  cooking  a  beefsteak  are  as  worthy  of  attention  as  a 
study  of  the  principles  of  causation,  the  doctrine  of  evolu- 
tion, or  the  history  of  coeducation.  No  one  doubts 
that  the  expert  surgeon  does  right  in  giving  attention  to 
methods  of  tying  an  artery  and  bandaging  a  wound.  It 
takes  time  to  learn  the  necessary  details  in  professional 
practice,  and  a  professional  school  is  fully  justified  in 
giving  the  time  and  allowing  credit  for  it.  I  mention 
this  desideratum,  seemingly  so  self-evident,  because 
I  have  found  it  the  chief  stumblingblock  in  umVersity 
circles.  I  would  go  further  and  say  that  the  ordinary 
system  of  counting  courses  of  instruction  by  the  number 
of  hours  per  week,  or  the  number  of  weeks  per  year, 
should  be  abandoned  in  a  teachers'  college,  or  at  least 
be  modified  in  such  a  way  as  to  permit  of  a  combination 
of  courses  of  variable  length  given  by  several  instructors. 
Academic  tradition  assigns  to  a  given  faculty  of  a  univer- 
sity certain  functions,  and  credits  only  that  instruction 
which  members  of  the  faculty  may  give.  A  teachers' 
college  should  be  free  to  supplement  the  instruction  of 
its  own  stafiF  with  the  services  of  experts  drawn  from  a 
wide  circle,  and  it  should  not  hesitate  to  send  its  students 


156  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

into  the  field  for  study  and  instruction  under  recognized 
leaders  who  cannot  bring  their  work  to  the  college.  We 
need  something  akin  to  the  clinic  and  hospital  service 
of  the  medical  school.  When  academic  tradition  inter- 
feres with  professional  needs,  away  with  red  tape.  When 
something  can  be  learned  from  an  expert  in  a  few  hours, 
why  refuse  to  call  in  the  expert  or  tie  it  up  with  a  dozen 
other  things  in  order  to  make  out  a  two-hour  course  for 
a  semester?  A  teachers'  college  supported  by  the  state 
should  have  all  the  educational  resources  of  the  state  at 
its  command.  Its  students  should  be  welcome  in  any 
schoolroom  and  have  access  to  all  the  information  pos- 
sessed by  any  principal  or  superintendent  of  schools. 
Its  invitation  to  any  teacher  in  the  state  to  share  instruc- 
tion for  an  hour  or  a  week  should  be  deemed  both  a  profes- 
sional honor  and  a  patriotic  duty.  To  one  accustomed 
to  the  limitations  placed  upon  a  private  institution,  the 
opportunities  open  to  such  a  state  institution  as  this  seem 
boundless. 


CHAPTER  DC 

COEDUCATION  IN  HIGH  SCHOOLS  ^ 

"/COEDUCATION  is  a  failure:     The  Horace  Mann 

•  ^     i     School  decides  to  abandon  it.'' 

This  startling  headline  in  a  New  York  daily 
paper  prefaced  the  announcement  of  a  change  in  policy 
with  respect  to  our  college  schools.  The  fact  is  that 
after  twenty-five  years  of  coeducation  we  tried  the  experi- 
ment of  separating  the  sexes  during  the  last  six  of  the 
twelve  years'  course.  The  kindergarten  and  first  six 
grades  of  the  elementary  school  will  remain  coeducational. 
Beginning  with  the  seventh  grade,  the  boys  go  to  a  school 
at  246th  Street,  six  miles  distant,  and  the  girls  remain 
in  the  present  building  at  120th  Street.  The  boys'  school 
has  a  playground  of  four  acres  fitted  for  their  use  in  all 
kinds  of  weather.  The  girls  have  the  fine  gymnasium 
and  swimming-pool  formerly  shared  with  the  boys. 
Material  equipment,  therefore,  is  about  equalized.  The 
special  feature  of  the  boys'  school  is  its  outdoor  life  — 
a  country  school  for  boys;  the  special  advantages  of  the 
girls'  school  will  be  its  facihties  for  teaching  the  house- 
hold arts,  fine  arts,  and  music. 

Is  coeducation  a  failure?  —  If  a  country  school  is  good 
for  city  boys,  why  not  for  city  girls?  Can't  the  house- 
hold arts  and  other  technical  subjects  be  taught  as  well 
in  one  place  as  in  another?    Why  separate  the  boys  and 

*A  revised  reprint  from  Good  Housekeeping,  October,  1913,  used  by  courtesy  of 
the  publishers. 


158  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

girls  —  unless,  perchance,  you  think  coeducation  a  failure? 
A  matter  of  expediency.  —  Those  who  beheve  that 
coeducation  is  a  failure  will  not  be  changed  by  any  ex- 
planation that  I  can  give,  but  I  insist  that  our  action  has 
no  bearing  whatever  on  the  main  question.  We  have 
done  only  what  every  good  school  and  every  wise  com- 
munity would  do  under  similar  conditions.  When  the 
present  school  building  was  erected  it  was  surrounded 
by  vacant  blocks.  Playgrounds  were  easily  accessible. 
Now  the  city  hems  us  in.  Moreover,  the  school  was 
much  smaller  than  now.  School  life  was  simpler,  and  no 
such  demand  was  made  upon  us  for  the  technical  training 
of  girls  as  has  come  everywhere  within  the  past  ten  years. 
Our  policy  is  to  keep  the  school  to  the  front  and  make  it 
in  every  way  as  good  as  we  know  how.  Our  present 
building  and  equipment  represent  an  investment  of  up- 
ward of  $500,000.  It  is  too  valuable  to  abandon,  but 
it  can  be  made  into  an  ideal  school  for  girls.  For  three 
years  the  boys  have  been  going  afternoons  in  good  weather 
to  the  playground  at  246th  Street.  The  time  spent 
on  the  trains  —  twenty-five  minutes  each  way  —  is  a 
considerable  loss,  and  in  order  to  get  in  an  hour  or  two  in 
daylight  the  school  has  had  to  close  at  two  o'clock.  Under 
the  new  plan  the  boys  will  spend  the  day  at  the  country 
school,  and  get  their  lessons  and  sports  whenever  each  can 
be  done  best.  The  separation  will  give  ample  room  for 
both  schools,  simplify  the  program,  and  make  possible  a 
more  complete  curriculum  for  each.  These  are  the  con- 
siderations which  led  us  to  change  a  policy  of  twenty-five 
years'  standing.  They  are  all  matters  of  expediency, 
and  say  nothing  of  the  success  or  failure  of  coeducation. 


COEDUCATION  IN  HIGH  SCHOOLS  1 59 

What  is  coeducation?  —  My  explanation  is  intended 
merely  to  show  that  our  action  was  not  the  result  of 
profound  conviction  of  the  right  or  wrong  of  coeducation, 
and  most  certainly  it  was  not  forced  by  any  dissatisfaction 
with  a  school  of  both  sexes,  nor  any  inabihty  to  accompHsh 
v/hat  the  school  set  out  to  do  when  it  was  established. 
No  breath  of  scandal  has  ever  touched  it,  and  from  first  to 
last  it  has  been  a  big  happy  family. 

I  assume  that  what  prompts  a  discussion  of  coedu- 
cation in  the  high  school  is  the  knowledge  that  the  prob- 
lem which  confronts  us  also  confronts  many  other  schools. 
Our  experience  is  not  isolated.  Communities  which  have 
maintained  coeducational  high  schools  for  a  generation 
are  now  raising  the  question  for  the  first  time  whether 
or  not  it  is  best  to  do  as  they  have  been  doing.  Questions 
which  many  of  us  thought  settled  years  ago  are  coming 
up  to  vex  us.  In  the  light  of  recent  development  in 
secondary  education,  how  shall  they  be  answered? 

The  first  step  is  to  get  a  clear  understanding  of  what 
is  meant  by  coeducation.  In  the  minds  of  some  it  appar- 
ently means  that  girls  should  have  identically  the  same 
schooling  as  boys.  Such  a  conception  may  have  been 
justified  at  a  time  when  it  was  claimed  that  girls'  intellects 
were  inferior  to  boys',  that  a  woman  should  not  aspire 
to  do  a  man's  work  anywhere  —  least  of  all  in  school 
and  college.  But  no  one  who  has  taught  boys  and  girls 
together  can  make  that  argument  and  keep  a  straight  face. 
It  is  no  longer  necessary  to  put  boys  and  girls  together  in 
school  or  college  simply  to  demonstrate  that  girls  are  not 
the  inferiors  of  their  brothers. 

Equipment  and  efficiency.  —  When  coeducation  is  un- 


l6o.  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

derstood  to  mean  identical  education  for  all,  the  problem 
is  reduced  to  its  lowest  terms,  and  becomes  an  ab- 
surdity. It  is  long  since  any  one  has  seriously  advocated 
a  curriculum  so  narrow  and  impoverished  as  to  be  accept- 
able to  all.  Even  in  schools  where  all  must  take  the  same 
lessons  and  submit  to  the  same  instruction,  it  does  not 
follow  that  all  pupils  get  the  same  mental  pabulum. 
No  two  pupils  get  the  same  reaction,  mental  or  spiritual, 
from  any  school  exercise.  One  boy  may  pick  his  way 
laboriously  through  Caesar's  Commentaries  and  retain 
just  enough  to  earn  a  passing  mark  at  the  end  of  the  term; 
another,  apparently  doing  the  same  task,  may  be  leading 
an  imaginary  Roman  legion  in  a  conquest  of  the  world. 
The  one  is  working  for  a  diploma;  the  other  is  getting  an 
education. 

Meeting  the  pupil's  needs.  —  The  pedagogical  advance 
in  recent  years  has  been  directed  primarily  toward  better 
teaching.  There  has  been  great  material  betterment, 
to  be  sure,  but  fine  buildings  and  improved  equipment 
are  worth  while  only  as  means  of  helping  the  teacher 
to  do  more  inspiring  work.  In  methods  of  instruction 
our  teachers  are  trained  to  depend  less  upon  the  grind 
and  discipline  of  school-keeping,  and  more  upon  teaching 
in  such  a  way  as  to  secure  a  wholesome  respect  for  the 
subject  of  instruction  and,  if  possible,  an  abiding  interest 
in  it.  It  is  well  known  that  most  boys  and  girls  have 
their  likes  and  dislikes  in  school  subjects.  Time  was  when 
a  schoolboy's  soul  was  saved  by  the  mortification  of  the 
flesh.  In  some  places,  where  the  school  is  too  poor  to 
afford  a'  variety,  the  puritanic  argument  is  still  heard, 
but  I  do  not  know  of  any  school  that  has  grown  from,  say, 


COEDUCATION  IN  HIGH  SCHOOLS  l6l 

fifty  to  five  hundred  pupils  which  has  not  increased  its 
curriculum  in  almost  equal  ratio.  When  a  school  has  only 
two  teachers  the  subjects  taught  are  naturally  those 
which  two  teachers  can  best  teach;  when  the  third  teacher 
comes  in  a  few  new  subjects  enter,  and  the  curriculum 
becomes  more  flexible;  when  the  tenth,  or  twentieth,  or 
fiftieth  teacher  is  added,  less  is  said  of  what  the  pupil 
needs  and  more  of  what  he  wants.  Apparently  the  pupil 
needs  what  he  can  get  when  he  can  get  but  little;  when 
much  is  offered  his  wants  determine  his  needs. 

Equal  opportunity.  —  The  bane  of  education  is  that 
plausible  arguments  can  be  put  up  to  justify  any  end 
however  unworthy  it  may  be.  Identical  education  was 
justified  so  long  as  it  cost  less  to  give  a  narrow  curriculum 
than  a  broad  one.  When  it  costs  no  more  to  give  a  variety 
of  subjects,  the  argument  changes.  Then  we  argue  that 
there  should  be  equality  of  opportunity  —  opportunity 
for  each  boy  and  each  girl  to  get  in  school  the  training 
which  will  best  fit  them  for  the  work  of  life.  So  far  have 
we  gone  in  this  latest  stage  that  vocational  training  is 
being  introduced  everywhere.  The  rural  schools  are 
teaching  agriculture  and  the  household  arts.  By  con- 
tinuation schools,  night  schools,  and  special  trade  schools, 
both  boys  and  girls  in  our  cities  are  being  fitted  to  earn 
a  better  living.  Once  grant  that  equality  of  opportunity 
has  a  place  in  school  poHcy,  and  no  state  dare  provide 
high  schools,  colleges,  and  professional  schools  for  the 
few,  without  making  provision  for  the  vocational  train- 
ing of  the  many. 

Meeting  the  need  for  differentiation.  —  The  doctrine  of 
equality  of  opportunity  is  playing  havoc  with  many  of 

TREND  IN  ED.  —  II 


1 62  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

our  earlier  American  notions  of  education.  Our  first 
secondary  schools  were  really  college-preparatory  schools, 
and  our  colleges  were  a  step  toward  professional  training 
for  the  service  of  church  and  state.  They  were  aristocratic 
institutions,  for  the  benefit  of  the  few  who  could  afford 
to  take  advantage  of  them.  When  high  schools  came  in, 
maintained  at  pubHc  expense,  the  common  sense  of  the 
community  insisted  on  opening  these  schools  to  girls. 
The  public  that  paid  the  bills  was  as  much  interested  in 
one  sex  as  in  the  other,  and  thereby  coeducation  became 
the  rule  in  American  high  schools.  But,  unwittingly, 
in  admitting  girls  the  seeds  of  heterodoxy  were  sown. 
The  admission  of  girls  doubled  the  possible  number  of 
pupils  at  once,  and  with  the  growth  of  numbers  more 
teachers  were  necessary.  With  more  teachers,  greater 
flexibility  of  curriculum  was  inevitable.  The  next  step 
is  the  one  we  are  all  facing.  When  it  is  possible  to  provide 
schooling  adapted  to  the  needs  of  later  life,  what  differen- 
tiation, if  any,  shall  be  made  for  boys  and  girls? 

Vocational  training.  —  The  fact  that  eighty  per  cent  of 
the  girls  in  any  high  school  will  marry  within  a  few  years 
and  be  settled  in  homes,  and  that  the  only  specific  train- 
ing they  will  ever  get  for  their  life  work  must  be  had  in 
the  high  school,  suggests  the  desirabihty  of  giving  girls 
something  more  than  the  boys  want.  So  strong  has  this 
feeling  become  that  few  high  schools  to-day  omit  the  house- 
hold arts  from  their  curriculum.  If  it  be  granted  that 
differentiation  is  desirable  in  one  respect,  it  is  difficult  to 
refute  the  argument  that  it  also  may  be  desirable  in  other 
respects.  I  fancy  that  the  movement,  begun  with  the 
introduction  of  the  household  arts,   will  continue  until 


COEDUCATION  IN  HIGH  SCHOOLS  1 63 

the  high-school  training  for  girls  who  do  not  go  to  college 
will  be  sharply  set  off  from  the  college-preparatory  course. 
Moreover,  the  colleges  will  not  long  refuse  to  credit  for 
admission  the  courses  pursued  by  most  girls  in  high  schools; 
the  state  universities  cannot  do  it  if  they  would,  and  the 
women's  colleges  will  finally  fall  in  line.  Consequently  I 
predict  a  growing  tendency  to  differentiate  the  work 
of  boys  and  girls  in  our  high  schools. 

But  all  this  may  be  beside  the  mark.  It  does  not  answer 
the  question  whether  boys  and  girls  should  be  educated 
together  in  the  high  school.  Coeducation,  if  it  means 
identical  education,  seems  to  me  an  absurdity.  Coeduca- 
tion as  equality  of  opportunity  for  both  sexes,  and  for  all 
individuals,  will  be  settled  chiefly  by  considerations  of 
expediency. 

A  normal  school  life.  —  Judging  from  what  I  know  of 
boys'  schools  and  girls'  schools  and  schools  for  both  sexes, 
I  am  satisfied  that  boys  and  girls  can  Kve  together  in  schools 
as  naturally  and  helpfully  as  they  do  in  the  homes  from 
which  they  come.  I  doubt  whether  a  boys'  school  is  any 
safer  for  a  normal  boy,  or  a  girls'  school  for  a  normal 
girl,  than  is  a  mixed  school.  Some  boys,  perhaps,  and 
some  girls  would  be  better  off  in  separate  institutions, 
but  in  most  communities  there  is  no  cause  to  fear  any 
worse  outcome  from  a  mixed  school  than  would  proba- 
bly arise  if  the  sexes  were  separated.  This  is  a  hard 
proposition  for  a  foreigner  to  understand,  but  to  most 
Americans  it  is  axiomatic.  With  us,  school  Hfe  with  boys 
and  girls  is  as  normal  and  as  safe  as  home  life.  More- 
over, there  are  many  refining  influences  present  in  a  mixed 
school  which  are  distinctly  helpful  to  boys,  and,  so  far  as 


164  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

my  observation  goes,  the  girls  lose  nothing  by  being  looked 
to  as  guardians  of  the  social  life  of  the  group.  Respon- 
sibility builds  character,  and  in  a  mixed  school  each  sex 
is  charged  with  the  responsibiHty  of  maintaining  its  own 
social  status.  This  I  consider  a  positive  advantage,  and 
one  that  should  not  lightly  be  set  aside. 

The  school  as  a  replica  of  community  life.  —  School 
life  in  an  American  high  school  is  the  life  of  the  community 
in  miniature.  If  the  community  life  is  sound  and  healthy, 
the  life  of  the  school  should  be  sound  and  healthy,  too. 
When  public  opinion  is  weak  or  uncertain,  however,  there 
is  a  danger  that  the  mixed  school  may  suffer.  Hence 
it  is  that  the  high  school  in  one  community  may  be  easily 
managed  and  a  model  of  propriety,  while  not  far  away 
another  school  may  fall  far  short  of  the  ideal.  In  a  great 
city,  for  example,  where  pupils  come  from  all  classes  and 
where  the  parents  are  fiat-dwellers,  knowing  nothing 
of  those  who  live  on  the  other  side  of  the  partition,  a  con- 
trolling public  opinion  is  out  of  the  question.  Pupils 
know  each  other  only  in  school,  and  the  gossip  of  the 
school  does  not  penetrate  the  homes,  because  those  at 
home  do  not  know  John  or  Sarah  toward  whom  gossip  is 
directed.  Under  such  conditions  the  school  is  hampered 
by  lack  of  restraining  public  opinion.  It  is  natural,  there- 
fore, that  parents  should  hesitate  to  send  a  daughter 
into  a  group  of  which  they  know  little,  but  fear  much. 
Such  a  situation  invites  opposition  to  coeducation,  and 
the  opposition  naturally  comes  from  the  patrons  of  the 
school. 

Physiological  maturity.  —  The  strongest  argument  for 
the  separation  of  the   sexes  during  the  high-school  age 


COEDUCATION  IN  HIGH  SCHOOLS  1 65 

comes  from  the  difference  in  physiologic  age.  Girls  mature 
earlier  than  boys.  Girls  of  fifteen  are  a  year  or  two  ahead 
of  boys  of  the  same  age,  and  the  boys  never  catch  up 
during  the  high-school  period.  The  inferiority  of  the  boys, 
socially  and  mentally,  is  noticeable  in  any  high-school 
class.  I  speak,  of  course,  in  general  terms.  In  every 
school  some  boy  will  be  physiologically  older  and  intel- 
lectually more  alert  than  some  girls,  but  in  the  large, 
the  girls  outstrip  the  boys.  The  result  is  a  certain  stagna- 
tion of  the  boy  group,  due  in  part  to  immaturity,  and  in 
part  to  the  repeated  failure  to  excel.  When  a  boy  gives 
up  tr3dng  because  some  girl  always  wins,  he  soon  acquires 
the  habit  of  being  satisfied  to  stay  behind.  It  is  a  common 
saying  among  high-school  teachers  that  girls  learn  more, 
but  boys  think  better.  But  the  boy  who  becomes  ac- 
customed to  second  place  soon  fails  to  think  at  his  best. 
He  marks  time,  and  frequently  does  not  wake  up  till  he 
finds  himself  in  college  in  an  entirely  different  atmosphere, 
dealing  with  new  subjects  in  open  competition  with  his 
fellows. 

Degrees  of  sensitivity.  —  Some  boys,  a  relatively 
large  number,  I  fear,  should  be  pushed  harder  in  high 
school  than  is  commonly  the  case  with  mixed  classes. 
A  hand  heavy  enough  to  be  felt  by  boys  of  sixteen  may 
be  too  heavy  for  the  girls  of  the  same  class.  The  relatively 
greater  sensitiveness  of  girls  may  be  disputed,  but  I  think 
most  teachers  will  agree  that  girls  are  prone  to  take  school 
work  more  seriously  than  boys. 

Collegiate  coeducation.  —  Whatever  the  value  of  the 
argument  for  a  separation  of  the  sexes  during  the  high- 
school  period,  it  does  not  hold  good  for  either  the  earher 


1 66  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

or  later  educational  stages.  I  cannot  see  any  inherent 
differences  in  college  men  and  women,  and  I  fancy  no  one 
finds  them  in  the  elementary  school.  Some  women 
whom  I  know  are  physically  stronger,  intellectually 
keener,  and  spiritually  more  robust  than  some  men  of  my 
acquaintance.  I  doubt  whether  there  is  any  profession, 
or  even  manual  vocation,  that  might  not  be  better  served 
by  certain  women  than  by  many  men.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  are  men  who  are  essentially  more  feminine  than  some 
women;  even  the  maternal  instinct  is  better  developed 
in  some  men  than  in  many  women.  Our  environment 
and  occupation,  quite  as  much  as  any  inherited  tendency 
or  physical  limitation,  mold  us  into  the  shapes  we  take. 

Equality  of  Opportunity  for  similarity  of  aims.  —  The 
doctrine  of  equality  of  opportunity  —  a  fundamental 
principle  of  American  society,  it  seems  to  me  — forces 
us  to  the  conclusion  that  our  school  system  must  provide 
free  and  ample  training  for  every  boy  and  girl.  If  a  boy 
and  a  girl  aspire  to  professional  service,  there  should  be 
full  equality  of  opportunity;  so,  too,  if  either  wants  to 
become  a  farmer,  a  builder,  or  a  stenographer,  the  way 
should  be  open  and  the  means  available. 

The  obvious  corollary  of  this  proposition  is  that  those 
whose  aim  is  the  same  should  have  the  same  education. 
The  woman  who  studies  medicine,  or  teaching,  or  law, 
needs  no  specialized  course  of  training  because  she  is  a 
woman.  Professional  service  is  without  distinction  of 
sex.  Merchandizing,  stenography  —  even  laundering  and 
dressmaking  and  dishwashing  —  are  not  peculiarly  femi- 
nine occupations.  The  man  who  wishes  to  excel  in  them 
must  fit  himself  as  does  the  woman. 


COEDUCATION  IN  HIGH  SCHOOLS  1 67 

Opening  the  door  to  future  needs.  —  I  see  no  reason, 
therefore,  to  modify  a  college-preparatory  course  to  suit 
the  needs  of  girls  or  boys;  their  needs  are  identical,  so  far 
as  they  go.  The  fact  that  two  thirds  of  the  girls  will  soon 
marry  means  that  the  career  of  the  largest  group  in  the 
school  is  definitely  known;  for  them  a  specialized  course 
is  not  only  desirable,  but  it  is  almost  criminal  not  to  give 
it.  But  if  any  girl  prefers  Latin  to  cookery,  and  aspires  to 
become  a  classical  scholar  rather  than  a  domestic  tech- 
nician, I  think  she  is  entitled  to  all  the  help  the  school  can 
give,  and  that  what  she  gets  should  be  what  the  boy  with 
the  same  ambition  gets.  There  is  a  study  of  science  that 
leads  to  a  sane  understanding  of  the  principles  of  nutrition 
and  sanitation  as  required  by  the  housewife,  and  there 
is  a  study  of  science  that  leads  to  the  practice  of  medicine. 
The  girl  who  is  to  marry  should  choose  the  one,  and  the 
girl  who  is  to  become  a  physician  should  take  the  other. 
It  would  doubtless  strengthen  the  future  housewife  to 
take  both,  just  as  it  would  be  well  for  the  married  phy- 
sician to  have  both,  but  Hfe  is  too  short  to  do  everything 
that  one  would  like,  or  to  get  all  the  training  that  one 
should  have.  Choices  must  be  made,  and  fortunate  is 
the  man  or  woman  who  chooses  wisely.  All  that  the 
school  can  do  is  to  offer  the  widest  possible  range  of  choices, 
and  to  keep  the  door  open  toward  future  needs. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  VITAL  THINGS  IN  EDUCATION  ^ 

SOME  time  ago  I  was  asked  to  address  a  convention 
on  the  subject,  "  What  are  the  vital  things  in  the 
education  of  young  women?  "  The  topic  was  not 
of  my  choosing,  but  the  question  interested  me.  It 
should  interest  everyone,  either  teacher  or  parent.  From 
the  parent's  standpoint  it  is  oftentimes  a  very  proper 
question  to  put.  What  have  courses  of  study  and  methods 
of  teaching  to  do  with  things  that  are  vital  in  education? 
Where  are  the  ablative  absolute,  the  rule  of  three,  and 
quadratic  equations  in  such  a  scheme?  Is  there  anything 
of  more  consequence  than  the  ability  to  parse  "  Paradise 
Lost,"  to  spell  Nebuchadnezzar,  or  to  work  every  example 
in  partial  payments  (every  one,  I  mean,  that  the  textbook 
gives  —  no  one  ever  saw  the  like  outside  a  textbook)? 
To  ask  a  pedagogue  what  is  vital  in  education  is  a  shrewd 
way  of  finding  out  whether  he  belongs  to  the  union  or  not. 
Nevertheless,  I  told  them  plainly  what  I  thought  of  the 
education  of  girls. 

Problem  of  coeducation.  —  Since  then  I  have  been 
thinking  of  what  is  vital  in  the  education  of  boys.  And 
I  really  cannot  see  where  to  draw  the  line.  We  want  our 
girls  to  become  women  —  the  best  possible  women;  and 
we  want  our  boys  to  become  men  —  the  best  possible 

1 A  revised  reprint  from  Good  Housekeeping,  March,  1914.  used  by  courtesy  of  the 
publishers. 

168 


THE  VITAL  THINGS  IN  EDUCATION  1 69 

men.  The  sexes  may  differ  in  important  particulars, 
just  as  individuals  of  the  same  sex  have  peculiar  char- 
acteristics; but  what  is  essential  in  education  pertains  to 
all  alike. 

The  other  day  I  received  a  letter  from  the  president  of  a 
city  school  board  in  England  who  wanted  to  know  what  I 
thought  of  coeducation.  My  reply  was  that  I  didn't 
think  much  about  it;  if  he  meant  the  presence  of  both 
sexes  in  the  same  school,  I  could  see  no  harm  in  it  as 
long  as  parents  supplied  us  with  both  boys  and  girls;  if  he 
meant  the  same  training  for  both  sexes,  he  would  have 
to  seek  further  for  his  information,  because  in  this  country 
no  two  boys  have  the  same  training,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
identical  training  of  both  sexes. 

The  attainment  of  ends.  —  Herein  is  an  educational 
principle  of  wider  application  than  we  ofttimes  realize. 
If  it  is  hard  to  find  two  people  who  look  alike,  it  is  harder 
still  to  find  two  personaKties  who  are  alike.  By  inherit- 
ance, temperament,  and  taste  I  am  unlike  any  other 
being,  so  far  as  I  know,  and  no  conceivable  discipline 
that  I  could  be  subjected  to  would  make  me  just  like 
anyone  else.    Browning  says  in  his  "  Paracelsus  ''  that 

Truth  is  within  ourselves    .     .     . 
and,  to  know, 
Ratlier  consists  in  opening  out  a  way 
Whence  the  imprisoned  splendor  may  escape, 
Than  in  effecting  entry  for  a  light 
Supposed  to  be  without. 

What  is  essential  in  education  is  not  so  much  a  matter 
of  discipline  and  training  as  it  is  a  question  of  ends  to  be 


170  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

attained.  For  every  mountain  peak  worth  scaling  there 
may  be  innumerable  paths  that  lead  to  the  summit.  For 
every  boy  or  girl  worth  raising  there  may  be  many  routes 
to  success  in  life.  But  a  person's  attainment  of  success 
should  be  as  patent  as  standing  on  the  mountain  peak. 

Where  education  begins.  —  Knowing  what  we  want 
our  children  to  become,  the  practical  question  is:  What 
should  we  do  for  them  while  they  are  growing  into  manhood 
and  womanhood?  It  is  a  question  directed  to  parents 
as  well  as  to  teachers  —  I  myself  am  speaking  as  a  parent. 
What  counts  most  in  the  making  of  men  and  women? 
If  we  parents  were  free  to  act  in  the  best  interests  of  our 
children ;  if  schools  did  not  have  fixed  schedules  and  classes 
and  courses  of  study  and  marks  and  examinations  and 
prizes  and  promotions  and  graduations  and  bouquets; 
if  teachers  were  all- wise  and  omnipotent;  if  our  friends 
and  neighbors  would  only  let  us  do  some  things  that  they 
don't  care  to  do,  instead  of  forever  goading  us  on  to  do  as 
others  do;  if  only  we  had  the  courage  to  do  what  our  com- 
mon sense  dictates  —  what  would  we  do  with  our  children 
while  they  are  growing  into  men  and  women? 

Laying  a  sound  foundation.  —  Shall  we  send  them  to 
college?  I  fancy  some  of  us  put  that  question  to  the  babe 
in  the  cradle.  At  any  rate,  I  know  of  parents  who  enter 
their  boys  in  a  famous  New  England  school  as  soon  as 
their  names  are  decided  upon.  Unfortunately,  or  for- 
tunately, I  don't  know  which,  the  schooling  of  girls  is  not 
taken  quite  so  seriously.  But  nevertheless  we  do  begin 
to  think  very  early  of  the  schools  to  which  our  daughters 
are  to  be  sent.  We  begin  inquiries  concerning  dancing 
masters  and  music  teachers;  we  discuss  the  relative  values 


THE  VITAL  THINGS  IN  EDUCATION  171 

of  classical  and  modern  languages;  we  are  very  insistent 
on  good  spelling  and  a  proper  pronunciation;  all  these 
are  matters  within  our  own  control.  But  the  baby's 
food,  the  air  she  breathes,  and  the  water  she  drinks,  these 
are  mysteries  known  only  to  nurses,  physicians,  and 
grandmothers,  just  as  the  bacteria  and  bacilli  are  dis- 
pensations of  Divine  Providence.  So  long  as  the  baby  is 
contented  and  happy  and  lets  us  sleep  o' nights,  what 
difference  does  it  make  whether  or  not  her  diet  contains 
the  proper  proportions  of  fats,  proteids,  and  carbohydrates? 
Carbohydrates  are  starch,  and  starch  becomes  sugar 
in  digestion;  what  harm,  then,  can  sweets  do?  The  only 
trouble  with  this  argument  is  that  most  of  us  parents  do 
not  even  know  enough  of  chemistry  to  use  the  terms 
properly,  to  say  nothing  of  making  the  right  food  com- 
binations. Like  politicians  who  are  willing  to  overlook 
a  little  matter  of  constitutional  law  among  friends,  so  we 
are  quite  willing  to  neglect  the  nutrition  of  our  children 
in  the  home.  No  greater  shock  ever  came  to  me  than 
when  I  once  called  a  physician  to  diagnose  the  illness 
of  one  of  my  children  and  was  told  very  bluntly  that  what 
primarily  ailed  the  child  was  lack  of  food.  I  am  satisfied 
that  the  major  part  of  our  bodily  ills  is  due  to  the  bad 
start  made  in  the  nursery.  With  proper  nutrition  and 
plenty  of  sunshine  and  out-of-door  exercise,  resistance 
to  disease  is  at  its  maximum,  and  the  conditions  are 
right  for  the  development  of  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound 
body. 

The  prime  essential.  —  The  first  question,  therefore, 
is  not  as  to  what  college  we  shall  send  the  child  to,  but 
What  shall  we  give  it  to  eat?    If  higher  education  is  con- 


172  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

cerned  at  all,  the  question  should  be,  What  college  or 
course  of  study  should  the  parents  enter? 

When  you  ask  me  what  counts  most  in  education,  I 
have  no  hesitation  in  putting  to  the  front  good  health. 
I  cannot  think  of  anything  worth  attaining  in  life  for 
man  or  woman  that  will  not  be  worth  more,  that  will  not 
give  more  joy,  satisfaction,  and  zest  to  life,  if  good  physical 
health  accompanies  it.  "  What  shall  a  man  give  in  ex- 
change for  his  soul?  "  He  has  nothing  to  give  that  is 
worth  taking  if  his  digestion  is  ruined,  his  nerves  shattered, 
or  his  brain  unbalanced. 

Health  -  instruction  for  parents.  —  The  responsibility 
for  good  health  does  not  rest  primarily  with  the  school. 
It  is  the  duty  of  the  teachers,  of  course,  to  observe  hygienic 
laws,  and  not  to  ask  more  of  a  pupil  than  can  reasonably 
be  expected,  but  what  is  usually  called  "  overburdening  " 
of  the  pupil  is  really  underfeeding  and  malnutrition. 
The  schools  have  sins  enough  of  their  own  to  atone  for 
without  adding  those  that  are  committed  by  the  ignorant 
but  well-meaning  parent.  The  pathetic  part  of  it  all  is 
that  the  mischief  is  done  before  the  school  has  a  chance 
to  try  its  hand.  Only  one  recourse  is  left  to  the  school 
and  to  the  intelligent  parent,  namely,  to  instruct  the  boy 
and  girl,  who  will  some  day  have  children  of  their  own, 
how  to  save  their  children  from  those  faults  from  which 
they  themselves  have  suffered.  "  Is  it  not  an  aston- 
ishing fact,"  Herbert  Spencer  asks,  "  that  though  on  the 
treatment  of  our  offspring  depend  their  life  and  death, 
their  moral  welfare  or  their  ruin,  yet  not  one  word  of 
instruction  is  ever  given  to  those  who  will  hereafter  be- 
come parents?  " 


TflE  VITAL  THINGS  IN  EDUCATION  173 

I  do  not  know  how  long  we  shall  wait  for  such  mstruc- 
tion,  but  the  time  is  coming  when  it  will  be  given.  If 
it  is  incompatible  with  college  education,  then  college 
education  will  have  to  give  way  to  something  more  rational. 
If  a  boy  cannot  be  taught  how  best  to  use  his  own  body, 
there  is  something  lacking  either  in  the  boy  or  in  his 
teacher.  If  the  principles  of  reproduction  and  heredity, 
of  physiology  and  hygiene,  of  food  selection  and  prepara- 
tion, cannot  be  given  properly  in  a  secondary  school  to 
girls  who  will  soon  be  in  need  of  such  information,  then 
there  is  something  radically  wrong  with  those  schools, 
or  with  our  modern  notions  of  what  is  worth  teaching. 

Pledges  unfulfilled.  —  The  greatest  peril  of  our  educa- 
tion to-day  is  that  it  promises  an  open  door  to  every  boy 
and  girl  up  to  the  age  of  fourteen,  and  then  turns  them 
ruthlessly  into  the  world  to  find  most  doors  not  only 
closed  but  locked  against  them.  Throughout  this  country 
we  are  telling  thousands  —  yes,  millions  —  of  boys  and 
girls  that  anything  they  please  may  be  had  for  the  asking, 
and  during  the  six  or  eight  years  of  the  school  course  they 
are  instructed  that  nothing  is  beyond  attainment.  Then, 
too,  our  democratic  notion  of  equality  of  opportunity  is 
responsible  for  the  attempt  to  hitch  some  very  ordinary 
wagons  to  stars  of  the  first  magnitude.  The  result  can 
only  be  bitter  disappointment.  Instead  of  a  happy, 
contented,  and  able  farmer,  we  make  of  the  ambitious 
country  boy  a  clerk  or  helper  in  some  city  industry,  or  a 
cog  in  some  factory  wheel.  Instead  of  helping  the  quick- 
witted city  boy,  who  leaves  school  at  twelve  or  fourteen, 
wise  far  beyond  his  years,  to  employ  his  mental  strength 
in  shortening  the  term  of  apprenticeship  in  the  trades 


174  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCA'TION 

and  in  improving  the  quality  of  the  output,  we  turn  him 
over  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  trade  union,  or  allow 
him  to  bungle  ahead  in  his  efforts  to  become  a  capable 
workman.  What  wonder  that  our  skilled  craftsmen  are 
foreigners,  and  that  our  best  American  boys  become 
petty  pohticians  or  walking  delegates  or  seekers  after  the 
soft  places?  We  do  not  teach  them  to  do  the  day's  work 
in  such  a  way  as  to  find  pleasure  and  satisfaction  in  it. 
The  result  is  grumbling  and  faultfinding  and  discontent 
in  private  life,  and  in  civil  life  the  beginnings  of  social- 
ism and  anarchism. 

Morals  and  manners.  —  Think  of  what  it  means  to  our 
girls  to  enjoy  for  eight  or  ten  years  daydreams  which 
the  first  contact  with  life  shatters.  Is  it  any  wonder  that 
the  girl  of  eighteen  or  twenty  who  has  never  had  an  hour's 
instruction  in  the  scientific  and  aesthetic  interpretation  of 
those  duties  which  confront  her  should  find  no  pleasure 
in  home-making?  The  situation  is  bad  enough  in  the 
country,  but  it  is  infinitely  worse  in  our  great  cities.  What 
chance  has  the  girl  of  the  tenements  even  though  she  be 
well-schooled  and  quick-witted?  She  leaves  the  school 
at  fourteen  or  fifteen  to  get  her  postgraduate  training 
in  housekeeping  from  her  mother.  Think  of  what  that 
means.  A  home  of  two  or  three  or  four  rooms  in  a  crowded 
quarter;  every  member  of  the  family  at  work  or  seeking  it; 
living  confined  to  the  barest  necessities;  no  conveniences 
for  doing  the  ordinary  work  of  a  home,  even  if  that  were 
necessary.  What  is  left  to  the  girl?  The  street;  and  it  is 
not  remarkable  that  some  thoughtful  persons  should  hold 
our  public  schools  responsible  for  adding  to  the  danger 
of  city  life  for  bright  and  attractive  girls.    The  surest 


THE  VITAL  THINGS  IN  EDUCATION  175 

way  to  break  down  family  life  and  destroy  the  sanctity 
of  the  marriage  tie  is  to  mate  an  ignorant  man  with  an 
ignorant  woman  —  ignorant,  I  mean,  of  what  marriage 
means,  and  unfitted  to  meet  its  obligations. 

Effective  social  participation.  —  The  next  desideratum 
is  proper  manners  and  morals;  in  a  word,  suitable  habits. 
I  am  not  sure  that  there  is  any  hierarchy  in  these  prac- 
tical ideals.  Good  health  was  put  first  because  without 
it  all  else  is  worthless;  proper  manners  and  morals  next, 
because  without  some  such  norm  there  can  be  no  effective 
participation  in  social  life. 

It  is  a  commonplace  that  a  man  must  be  honest,  and 
that  a  woman  must  bear  a  good  reputation.  We  go  even 
further  and  say  that  the  great  object  of  education  is  the 
development  of  good  character;  but  we  do  not  always 
include  in  that  the  whole  round  of  conduct  which  marks 
the  agreeable  member  of  society. 

The  true  aim  of  education.  —  We  are  not  concerned  here 
with  the  origin  or  inculcation  of  customs  or  conduct. 
It  matters  little  whether  they  come  from  mere  imitation, 
or  result  from  definite  instruction  reinforced  by  persistent 
effort.  It  is  what  we  do  that  counts  most  in  society. 
And  every  grade  of  society  demands  that  its  members 
conform  to  an  accepted  norm.  We  recognize  this  insist- 
ent demand  when  we  require  our  children  to  eat  with  a 
fork,  to  dress  becomingly,  and  to  speak  grammatically. 
Reverence,  courtesy,  gentleness,  sympathy,  modesty, 
obedience,  bravery,  when  socially  considered,  are  virtues 
crystallized  in  good  manners  and  morals.  They  are  the 
surest  evidence  of  what  we  call  good  breeding.  More- 
over, from  the  social  standpoint  these  virtues  have  a  value 


176  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

directly  proportional  to  their  habitual  expression. 
Veracity  as  a  fixed  habit  is  far  preferable  to  truth-telling 
for  a  consideration.  Temperance  induced  by  fear  of  evil 
consequences  is  far  less  effective  than  instinctive  self- 
restraint.  When  these  desirable  modes  of  conduct  become 
thoroughly  ingrained  —  become  "  natural  "  as  we  often 
say  —  then  character  is  fixed.  "  Manners  makeyth  man  " 
is  an  adage  of  greater  truth  than  is  commonly  recognized 
in  our  modern  educational  practice. 

The  joy  of  fellowship.  —  How  to  get  on  with  other 
people  —  for  that  is  really  the  criterion  of  proper  manners 
and  morals  —  is  the  chief  end  of  one  great  type  of  educa- 
tion. The  Persians,  according  to  Xenophon,  insisted 
that  their  leaders  should  learn  both  to  rule  and  to  be 
ruled,  to  command  and  to  obey.  These  ends  are  not 
secured  by  formal  instruction;  they  are  the  result  of  dis- 
cipline under  conditions  which  are  favorable  to  the  fixing 
of  habits.  Education,  Professor  James  says,  is  the  or- 
ganization of  acquired  habits  of  conduct  and  tendencies  of 
behavior.  Walt  Whitman,  in  one  of  those  strange  out- 
bursts of  his,  tells  how  it  is  that  the  child  goes  forth  every 
day  into  a  new  world  and  becomes  part  and  parcel  of  all 
that  he  beholds. 

There  was  a  child  went  forth  every  day; 

And  the  first  object  he  looked  upon,  that  object  he  became; 

And  that  object  became  part  of  him  for  the  day,  or  a  certain  part 

of  the  day,  or  for  many  years  or  stretching  cycles  of  years. 
The  early  lilacs  became  part  of  this  child, 
And  grass,  and  white  and  red  morning-glories,  and  white  and  red 

clover,  and  the  song  of  the  phoebe-bird     .     .     . 
And  the  schoolmistress  that  passed  on  her  way  to  the  school. 
And  the  friendly  boys  that  pass'd  —  and  the  quarrelsome  boys. 


THE  VITAL  THINGS  IN  EDUCATION  177 

And  the  tidy  and  fresh-cheek'd  girls  —  and  the  barefoot  negro  boy 

and  girl, 
And  all  the  changes  of  city  and  country,  wherever  he  went. 
His  own  parents,     .     .     . 

The  mother  at  home,  quietly  placing  the  dishes  on  the  supper-table; 
The  mother  with  mild  words,  clean  her  cap  and  gown,  a  whole- 
some odor  falling  off  her  person  and  clothes  as  she  walks  by; 
The  father,  strong,  self-sufficient,  manly,  mean,  anger'd,  unjust; 
The  blow,  the  quick  loud  word,  the  tight  bargain,  the  crafty  lure. 
The    family  usages,  the    language,  the    company,  the    furniture, 

the  yearning  and  swelling  heart. 
Affection  that  will   not    be   gainsay'd,  the  sense  of  what  is  real, 

the  thought  if  after  all  it  should  prove  unreal, 
The  doubts  of  day-time  and  the  doubts  of  night-time,  the  curious 

whether  and  how, 
Whether  that  which    appears  so  is  so,    or  is  it    all  flashes    and 

specks?     .     .     . 
These  became  part  of  that  child  who  went  forth  evtry  day,  and 

who  now  goes,  and  will  always  go  forth  every  day.^ 

A  very  serviceable  education  can  be  given  with  a  modi- 
cum of  formal  instruction.  In  fact,  we  seldom  hear  a 
course  of  study  justified  because  of  the  information  it 
gives.  It  may  be  well  that  some  of  these  courses  put 
forth  no  such  claim,  but  the  truth  is  that  much  of  what 
we  claim  for  study  may  be  gained  —  and  is  gained  by  far 
the  greatest  number  in  any  society^ from  leading  a 
wholesome  Ufe  with  one's  fellows.  English  education, 
as  given  in  the  great  pubHc  schools,  is  preeminently  of 
this  type. 

The  day's  work.  —  The  next  vital  thing  in  the  education 
of  anybody,  man  or  woman,  is  the  abiHty  to  engage  in 
useful  occupation.     I  had  almost  said  the  abiHty  to  earn 

'  This  selection  from  Walt  Whitman's  Leaves  of  Grass  is  used  by  special  ar- 
rangement with  the  publishers,  Doubleday,  Page  and  Company. 

TREND    IN   ED.  —  12 


178  THE  TREND  IN  AAIERICAN  EDUCATION 

a  livelihood,  but  someone  may  object  to  the  utilitarian 
limitation  of  that  statement.  Let  me  put  in  the  word 
decent  —  the  ability  to  earn  a  decent  livelihood  —  and 
I  am  as  satisfied  with  the  one  expression  as  with  the 
other.  We  do  want  both  our  boys  and  our  girls  to  succeed 
in  doing  something  worth  while  and  suited  to  them.  We 
also  want  them  to  have  sufficient  ability  in  some  useful 
occupation  to  gain  a  living  thereby  in  case  of  need. 

Now  I  wish  to  emphasize  this  demand.  We  do  want 
just  this  thing  —  all  of  us  —  regardless  of  our  social 
standing,  or  our  wealth,  or  any  other  consideration.  If 
sometimes  we  fail  to  talk  out  loud  about  it,  the  reason  is  that 
we  are  willing  to  take  chances  on  the  future,  to  run  the  risk 
of  leaving  to  someone  else  the  duty  of  instructing  our 
children  in  doing  the  day^s  work  when  the  need  of  the  day's 
work  arises. 

I  have  said  that  this  categorical  imperative  is  directed 
to  girls  as  well  as  to  boys.  The  woman  who  has  nothing 
to  do  in  life  may  be  left  out  of  account.  And  if  there  be 
work  for  woman  to  do,  her  pleasure  and  satisfaction  in 
life,  her  influence  upon  others,  and  her  returns  for  her 
labor,  all  demand  that  she  be  fitted  for  her  task.  I  am 
not  thinking  only  of  so-called  "  working- women,"  nor  of 
professional  women,  nor  of  any  particular  class  of  those 
who  work  for  money.  If  anyone  thinks  that  getting 
married  relieves  a  woman  of  work  and  responsibility, 
let  him  try  it  and  see  for  himself.  If  there  is  any  occupa- 
tion that  induces  greater  physical  strain  and  nervous 
waste,  any  profession  that  calls  for  more  of  the  moral 
virtues,  or  profits  more  from  the  use  of  common  sense, 
than  the  profession  of  wife  and  mother,   I  should  like 


THE  VITAL  THINGS  IN  EDUCATION  1 79 

to  know  what  it  is.  It  is  not  a  money-making  profession; 
it  is,  on  the  contrary,  preeminently  the  money-spending 
profession. 

Earning  and  spending.  —  In  my  opinion,  to  spend 
money  wisely  is  even  more  difficult  than  to  earn  it.  We 
hear  much  of  a  living  wage,  but  the  real  problem  is  not  in 
what  the  workman  receives,  but  in  what  his  wife  spends. 
I  will  undertake  to  guarantee  the  stability  of  our  American 
democratic  institutions  if  you  will  see  to  it  that  American 
wives  are  taught  how  best  to  spend  the  money  their 
husbands  earn.  Somewhere  in  that  last  ten  per  cent  of 
a  man's  income  are  hidden  away  his  present  happiness 
and  future  prospects.  If  that  last  ten  per  cent  is  ex- 
pended along  with  what  has  gone  before,  life  must  soon 
become  a  dreary  routine,  destructive  alike  of  good  health 
and  high  ambitions.  If  we  could  stop  the  noisy  clatter 
of  our  educational  machinery  for  a  moment,  I  think  we 
should  hear  in  the  awful  silence  these  words,  "  With  all 
thy  getting,  get  understanding."  And  their  interpreta- 
tion is  this:  the  chief  end  of  education  is  not,  as  many 
seem  to  think,  to  earn,  to  earn,  to  earn,  but  rather  to  spend, 
to  spend,  to  spend;  to  spend  prudently  that  there  may  be 
no  waste;  to  spend  wisely  that  the  best  may  be  obtained; 
to  spend  generously  that  as  many  as  possible  may  be 
benefited  thereby;  to  spend  money  that  represents  a 
man's  toil  so  as  to  lighten  his  labors;  to  spend  energy 
in  such  a  way  as  to  give  increased  strength;  to  spend  time 
in  order  that  more  time  may  be  had  for  the  things  that 
count. 

The  art  of  discrimination.  —  This  leads  me  to  my  fourth 
point  —  the  appreciation  of  what  is  best  in  life.     Good 


l8o  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

health,  proper  conduct,  ability  to  earn  a  livelihood  (even 
to  the  extent  of  accumulating  great  wealth)  are  meaning- 
less to  him  who  knows  not  the  relative  values  of  what 
life  offers.  Lord  Kelvin  has  said  that  the  end  of  educa- 
tion is  first  to  help  a  man  earn  a  living,  and  then  to  make 
his  life  worth  living.  Life  —  human  life  —  is  a  succes- 
sion of  choices.  It  is  the  glory  of  man  that  he  can  choose, 
that  he  is  free  to  put  his  own  valuation  on  what  is  offered 
him.  How  important,  then,  that  he  should  see  life  in  its 
proper  perspective,  that  he  should  feel  the  charm  of 
nature,  see  the  beauty  in  art,  feel  the  uplift  in  literature 
and  history,  respect  the  truths  of  science,  take  comfort 
in  religion,  and  find  good  in  everything.  This  is  the  goal 
of  all  education.  All  else  is  a  means  to  this  great  end. 
The  one  thing  needful  is  the  ability  to  discriminate  in 
what  life  offers,  to  single  out  the  best,  and  to  appropriate 
it  in  the  struggle  for  attainable  ideals. 

Educating  the  leader.  —  Notwithstanding  what  I  have 
said  of  the  shortcomings  of  our  public  schools,  I  do  believe 
in  the  best  ideals  of  American  education,  just  as  I  have 
an  abiding  faith  in  the  ideals  of  American  life.  Equality 
of  opportunity  as  guaranteed  in  our  civil  and  industrial 
life  is  a  possession  of  which  we  may  well  be  proud.  It 
comes  to  us  sealed  with  the  blood  of  our  forefathers,  and 
it  is  our  duty  to  hand  it  on  unsullied  to  our  children. 
But  we  should  not  blind  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  it  is  the 
greatest  experiment  of  the  ages.  Every  other  great  nation 
that  I  know  of  has  attained  its  greatness  by  a  system  of 
education  that  is  calculated  to  keep  the  many  down, 
while  helping  up  the  few.  Germany  and  England  have 
had  one  system  of  training  the  masses  and  another  and 


THE  VITAL  THINGS  IN  EDUCATION  l8l 

quite  different  system  of  training  leaders.  Our  salvation 
depends  upon  our  ability  to  work  out  a  scheme  of  educa- 
tion which  will  make  of  every  person  who  wills  it  a  leader 
in  his  own  way.  The  man  of  trained  intelHgence  who 
works  on  the  farm,  or  in  the  factory,  or  at  a  trade,  may 
be  a  leader  of  as  much  social  value  as  the  man  who  engages 
in  business  or  enters  a  profession.  Granted  good  health, 
and  habits  of  conduct  which  make  of  one  an  agreeable 
member  of  a  community,  and  the  abihty  to  earn  a  decent 
livelihood,  I  have  no  fear  of  social  unrest  or  domestic 
unhappiness.  The  man  or  woman  who  can  do  something 
well  is  sure  to  take  pride  in  the  work,  and  to  find  satis- 
faction in  doing  it. 

The  life  worth  while.  —  The  final  effort  in  all  education, 
therefore,  should  be  directed  to  the  proper  appreciation 
of  the  opportunities  that  life  offers.  The  education  to 
which  we  are  accustomed  in  school  and  college  is  properly 
the  evaluation  of  what  is  best  in  life.  I  do  not  ask  that 
we  abate  in  the  slightest  degree  our  zeal  for  the  best  in 
literature,  history,  and  science.  My  plea  is  that  we  do 
also  these  things  of  which  I  have  been  speaking  —  not 
that  we  should  leave  the  others  undone. 

The  struggle  to  find  what  is  best,  and  the  determina- 
tion to  pursue  that  course  to  the  end,  is  the  record  of  every 
good  man's  life.  It  is  well  that  history  and  literature 
portray  great  characters  and  record  their  struggles.  What 
man  has  done,  I  can  do!  —  is  the  watchword  of  the  boy 
who  is  surely  going  forward.  The  attainment  of  any 
virtue  is  made  easier  if  good  example  attend  the  precept. 
The  great  ideals  of  Christian  character  were  exempUfied 
in  the  fife  of  the  Master.    He  did  not  appeal  to    his  dis- 


1 82  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

ciples  to  follow  truth  for  its  own  sake,  nor  did  he  present 
the  beautiful  and  the  good  in  the  abstract.  And  anyone 
who  would  uplift  boy  or  girl,  man  or  woman,  must  show 
that  the  good,  the  beautiful,  and  the  true  are  the  dynamic 
forces  which  make  life  worth  living.  The  greatest  good 
is  the  good  that  man  can  do;  the  purest  beauty  is  the 
beauty  that  man  may  be;  the  noblest  truth  is  the  truth 
that  makes  man  free. 

The  lesson  of  life.  —  Not  long  since  I  visited  in  the  South 
an  institution  that  is  linked  with  the  names  of  two  great 
men  —  Washington  and  Lee  University.  I  was  taken  into 
the  chapel  on  a  beautiful  spring  afternoon  by  a  man 
eminent  in  Southern  life,  who  himself  was  a  student  in 
that  institution  about  forty  years  ago.  He  said:  "My 
home  was  near  here  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and  I  was 
a  boy  too  young  to  go  to  war.  My  father  went,  and  did 
not  come  back.  One  brother  after  another  followed  him, 
and  failed  to  return.  Home  was  broken  up,  everything 
lost,  father  and  brothers  gone.  After  the  war  was  over, 
when  General  Lee  returned  to  the  ways  of  peace  and 
settled  down  as  a  teacher  and  as  president  of  this  institu- 
tion, my  mother  and  I  felt  that  there  was  only  one  thing 
for  me  to  do,  to  become  a  student  under  General  Lee." 

I  thought  of  those  four  horrible  years  when  that  valley 
was  a  scene  of  carnage  and  destruction,  when  Lee's  vic- 
torious army  would  sweep  northward,  and  then  Sheridan 
and  his  men  force  him  back;  back  and  forth  through  that 
valley,  the  granary  of  the  Confederacy,  they  fought. 
And  then  I  thought  of  that  little  boy,  too  young  to  take 
an  active  part  in  it,  but  not  too  young  to  suffer  the  con- 
sequences,   striving    to    get    inspiration  from  the  nearer 


THE  VITAL  THINGS  IN  EDUCATION  1 83 

approach  to  the  man  who  was  reckoned  a  demigod  by  the 
people  of  Virginia.  And  as  we  stood  in  that  chapel  that 
afternoon  and  looked  upon  that  magnificent  recumbent 
statue  of  General  Lee,  this  man  said:  "Do  you  know, 
the  turning  point  in  my  life  came  one  night  right  on  this 
spot.  It  was  a  custom  after  General  Lee  died  for  the 
cadets  of  the  school,  the  students,  to  stand  guard  over  his 
tomb,  and  all  night  long  I  stood  in  this  aisle  with  a  musket 
in  my  hand,  standing  guard." 

Can  you  imagine  what  that  means  for  a  boy  or  for  a 
girl?  Why,  that  is  almost  all  of  education  —  standing 
guard,  not  over,  but  with,  a  noble  soul! 


CHAPTER  XI 

SCOUTING  EDUCATION  *  ' 

IN  times  of  unparalleled  storm  and  stress,  when  the 
traditions  of  centuries  crumble  and  the  ideals  of 
civilization  are  weighed  in  the  balance  of  war,  the 
patriots  of  every  nation  give  anxious  thought  to  the 
social  order  that  shall  arise  from  such  chaos.  Prepared- 
ness is  the  word  that  springs  to  every  lip.  It  is  used 
alike  by  those  who  would  take  the  easiest  way  to  let 
well  enough  alone,  and  by  those  who  wish  to  reconstruct 
the  world.  In  its  lowest  terms,  it  means  preparation  for 
military  defense  against  foreign  aggression;  in  its  highest 
reaches,  it  aspires  to  the  regeneration  of  human  nature, 
so  that  the  brute  in  man  shall  forever  be  held  in  leash. 
However  men  may  differ  as  to  the  means  of  bringing  on 
the  millennium,  the  fairest  flower  in  the  blood-soaked 
fields  of  the  world  to-day  is  the  universal  desire  for  peace 
on  earth  and  good  will  to  men. 

Rights  and  their  correlatives.  —  There  can  be  no  peace 
without  good  will  among  men,  and  no  will  is  good  that 
does  not  beget  justice,  protect  ownership,  and  secure 
life,  hberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  These  are  the 
rights  of  man,  incorporated  by  our  forefathers  into  the 
fabric  of  our  government  and  bequeathed  to  us  as  a  pre- 
cious legacy  to  have  and  to  hold  in  trust  for  all  those  who 
would  be  citizens  of  a  free  and  independent  state.     The 

*  A  revised  reprint  from  the  Teachers  College  Record,  January,  191 7. 

184 


SCOUTING  EDUCATION  1 85 

right  to  worship  God  in  one's  own  way;  the  right  to  trade, 
to  conduct  commerce,  to  accumulate  property,  to  take  up 
land,  and,  by  occupation,  to  own  it  without  restriction; 
the  right  to  barter  with  one's  neighbors  in  matters  spiritual, 
temporal,  and  poUtical;  the  right  to  be  one's  own  master  — 
these  are  the  ideals  of  the  founders  of  our  nation.  And 
when  they  set  up  a  government  of  their  own,  they  took 
particular  pains  to  see  that  their  rights  were  secure. 

Read  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  note 
the  rights  and  duties  enumerated.  Duties  are  enjoined 
only  upon  office-holders  for  the  protection  of  the  rights 
of  citizens;  and,  as  if  the  directors  of  the  joint-stock  cor- 
poration could  not  be  trusted  to  return  adequate  dividends, 
a  string  of  amendments  has  been  added,  still  further 
defining  the  rights  of  individuals.  No  word  anywhere 
in  that  famous  document  directly  defines  the  duties  of 
citizens  —  an  omission  that  would  have  wrecked  the 
RepubHc  in  its  infancy,  except  for  the  genius  of  Chief 
Justice  Marshall  and  the  assiduous  labors  of  a  few  patriotic 
statesmen.  But  for  more  than  a  century  we  have  slowly 
been  learning  the  lesson  that  rights  have  their  correlative 
duties;  that  the  right  to  one's  own  property  imposes  the 
duty  of  protecting  the  property  of  others;  that  the  right 
to  freedom  brings  with  it  the  duty  of  obedience  to  the  law; 
that  the  right  to  pursue  happiness  enjoins  the  duty  of 
guarding  others  from  misery;  and,  in  a  word,  that  the 
rights  of  citizenship,  secured  by  government,  make  it 
the  duty  of  every  citizen  to  give  patriotic  service  when- 
ever needed  and  at  whatever  cost. 

Problems  of  individuality.  —  Individualism  has  so  long 
been  dominant  in  our  social  and  political  life,  it  is  no  wonder 


1 86  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

that  it  has  also  directed  the  course  of  our  education.  The 
theory  that  all  men  are  created  equal  is  easily  interpreted 
to  mean  that  any  man  may  become  anything.  Granted 
that  the  individual  has  a  right  to  direct  his  own  develop- 
ment, does  it  follow  that  he  may  do  as  he  pleases?  And 
if  the  state  provides  schools  and  teachers  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  young,  what  has  the  state  a  right  to  expect 
from  its  training,  and  what  is  the  duty  of  its  pupils  towards 
the  public?  Can  individuals  naturally  selfish,  who  have 
the  American  way  of  wanting  to  do  as  they  please,  be 
trained  in  schools  to  be  efficient,  patriotic  citizens?  If 
so,  what  kind  of  training  should  an  American  school  give 
to  the  prospective  American  citizen?  Such  questions 
as  these  are  pressing  for  answer  now  as  never  before  in 
our  history. 

Teaching  the  duties  of  citizenship.  —  A  survey  of  Amer- 
ican education  does  not  disclose  much  evidence  of  a  con- 
trolling desire  to  promote  patriotic  service.  Indeed,  if 
one  were  to  confine  one's  attention  to  the  work  of  the 
schools,  particularly  of  the  public  schools,  where,  if  any- 
where, one  might  expect  to  find  the  most  direct  efforts 
towards  teaching  the  duties  of  citizenship,  surprise  and 
disappointment  would  follow.  Teachers  there  are,  in 
great  numbers,  who  see  the  future  man  or  woman  in 
their  pupils,  and  who  labor  unceasingly  to  fortify  them 
against  their  day  of  need;  but  the  test  that  passes  pupils 
from  grade  to  grade  does  not  take  into  account  growth 
in  character  or  moral  strength.  The  work  of  teachers  is 
judged  primarily  by  what  their  pupils  know.  The  vir- 
tues and  vices  of  our  future  citizens  are  a  sealed  book 
which  our  educational  authorities  do  not  open  to  inspec- 


SCOUTING  EDUCATION  187 

tion.  The  state  seems  to  have  overlooked  the  fact  that 
intellectual  power  is  as  great  an  asset  to  the  crook  as  to 
the  honest  man.  Public  safety,  therefore,  calls  for  more 
than  the  schools  are  officially  encouraged  to  give. 

Environment  as  an  educational  factor.  —  Education, 
however,  is  not  wholly  a  matter  of  schools  and  school 
training.  Indeed,  if  it  were,  we  should  come  badly  off. 
Consider  for  a  moment  the  time  problem.  Our  children 
are  in  school  at  the  most  five  hours  a  day,  five  days  in  the 
week,  for  forty  weeks  in  the  year  —  a  total  of  i,ooo  hours. 
The  average  child  of  school  age  is  awake  fifteen  hours  a 
day  for  365  days'  in  the  year  —  a  total  of  5,475  hours. 
Any  way  you  reckon  it,  the  normal  child  is  receptive, 
getting  impressions,  using  ideas,  reaching  conclusions, 
fixing  habits,  organizing  his  modes  of  behavior  which. 
Professor  James  said,  is  education,  four  hours  outside  of 
school  for  every  hour  spent  in  school.  Let  the  school 
be  administered  by  directors  of  the  widest  vision  and  the 
highest  ideals;  let  it  be  equipped  with  the  best  appliances, 
and  staffed  by  teachers  with  the  ripest  scholarship,  the 
finest  training,  and  the  clearest  pedagogical  insight,  and 
you  still  have  to  reckon  with  forces  inherent  in  the  nature 
of  the  child  and  incident  to  his  life  in  a  society  that  are 
overwhelmingly  and  persistently  directing  his  personal 
development. 

Educational  deadwood. — Next  consider  what  the  child 
is  required  to  learn  in  school:  first,  to  read,  write,  and 
spell  correctly,  and  to  speak  grammatically  a  language 
almost  as  foreign  to  the  child  and  as  artificial  at  the  time 
as  any  alien  tongue;  second,  to  learn  numbers  and  their 
manipulation  in  a  way  that  does  not  appeal  to  him,  be- 


1 88  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

cause  beyond  his  needs,  and  to  an  extent  that  often  sur- 
passes belief;  third,  to  learn  something  of  history  and 
literature,  which  may  or  may  not  be  amenable  to  reason; 
fourth,  to  become  familiar  with  certain  elements  of  geog- 
raphy and  natural  science,  which  may  or  may  not  be 
elementary  nor  natural  nor  science;  fifth,  to  dabble  in 
music,  art,  handwork,  cooking,  sewing,  and  a  variety 
of  subjects  more  or  less  dependent  upon  the  whims  of 
school  boards  and  the  preferences  of  teachers.  If  to  this 
showing  of  what  is  ordinarily  regarded  as  essentials,  you 
add  the  "  dead  wood  "  that  has  floated  into  our  schools 
on  the  stream  of  tradition  and  remained  there,  because 
of  the  conservatism  of  teachers  and  the  wisdom  of  college 
faculties,  you  have  a  very  formidable  collection  of  materials 
which  custom  decrees  shall  be  packed  away  somewhere 
and  somehow  in  a  child's  cranium. 

The  child's  share  of  the  teacher's  time.  —  In  the  third 
place,  I  want  you  to  consider  how  much  of  a  teacher's 
time  the  average  child  gets  in  a  school-day.  In  our  rural 
ungraded  schools,  the  teacher  may  have  from  fifteen  to 
forty  different  classes  in  a  &ve-  or  six-hour  day.  When 
such  a  school  has  six  or  eight  groups  —  not  an  uncommon 
occurrence  —  the  hours  of  schooling  become  minutes, 
and  not  many  of  them.  Our  Commissioner  of  Educa- 
tion reports:  "  If  every  minute  of  the  five-hour  school-day 
could  be  used  for  recitations,  the  recitations  would  have  an 
average  of  nine  and  one-half  minutes  each."  Then  turn 
to  our  city  schools,  with  their  classes  of  forty  to  sixty 
pupils  ranged  in  rows,  disciplined  to  silence,  worked  in 
teams.  How  many  minutes  a  day  does  the  average  child 
get  for  personal  contact  with  the  teacher?    How  much 


SCOUTING  EDUCATION  1 89 

time  is  given  him  for  reflection  on  what  he  learns  and  for 
its  assimilation  into  his  spiritual  life?  What  per  cent 
of  efficiency  should  be  expected  from  his  work? 

Inadequacy  of  the  teaching  staff.  —  And,  finally,  take 
account  of  the  administration  of  our  schools.  Note  that 
our  rural  teachers  are  but  little  older  than  their  eldest 
pupils,  with  little  more  training  for  their  work  than  the 
schools  give  in  which  they  teach;  that  the  teachers  in  our 
city  schools  are  mostly  young  women  who  can  be  forced 
to  work  for  less  than  the  wage  of  street  cleaners  or  of  the 
cooks  in  our  kitchen;  that  few  of  our  principals  and  super- 
intendents have  had  any  professional  training  whatever, 
although  we  live  in  a  generation  that  requires  trained 
physicians,  trained  lawyers,  trained  engineers,  even  trained 
veterinarians  to  look  after  our  hogs  and  horses  and  cattle 
and  lap  dogs;  and  that  the  state  entrusts  the  management 
of  the  largest,  most  far-reaching  and  expensive  depart- 
ment of  civil  government  to  boards  of  directors  with  little 
knowledge  of  child  nature  or  school  work  or  social  needs. 
What  wonder  that  school  funds  are  squandered  in  this 
country  by  the  millions  of  dollars  annually,  that  teaching 
is  regarded  as  a  trade  rather  than  a  profession,  and  that 
there  is  widespread  dissatisfaction  with  the  results  of 
schooling!  It  is  providential,  however,  that  guardian 
angels  keep  watch  over  children  and  fools,  otherwise  the 
pupils  in  our  schools  and  we  who  send  them  there  would 
long  ago  have  come  to  ruin.  The  truth  is  that,  however 
badly  our  children  do,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  their  teachers 
do  worse;  and,  bad  as  teaching  is,  the  adminstration  of 
our  schools  is  worse  still. 

Limitations    of    school    offerings- — Under    prevailing 


I  go  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

conditions,  therefore,  the  most  that  can  reasonably  be 
expected  is  that  our  children  should  acquire  in  school  a 
very  moderate  amount  of  useful  knowledge,  a  few  desir- 
able habits  in  the  use  of  language  and  numbers,  and  some 
ability  in  facing  squarely  and  solving  accurately  the  prob- 
lems that  they  meet  in  life.  We  have  no  right  to  expect 
children  on  leaving  our  public  schools  at  fourteen  or 
sixteen  years  of  age  —  and  about  nine  tenths  of  them  get 
no  schooling  after  sixteen, —  to  be  either  clear  thinkers 
or  independent  workers.  They  are  unformed,  not  to  say 
uninformed,  but  energetic  and  ambitious  humans.  At  best, 
the  school  has  given  them  a  taste  of  the  good  things  of 
life,  has  opened  the  door  to  opportunity,  and  roused  in 
them  a  desire  to  take  advantage  of  what  life  offers.  It 
has  done  little,  and,  as  things  are  at  present,  it  can  do 
little,  to  make  them  efficient  workers  in  any  vocation, 
or  to  equip  them  with  those  habits  of  mind  and  body 
essential  to  good  citizenship.  In  other  words,  the  school 
of  to-day  lacks  the  time,  the  means,  and  the  professional 
ability  to  develop  in  its  pupils  the  moral  character  which 
we  expect  in  the  good  citizen.  It  does  afford,  however, 
the  foundations  on  which  that  kind  of  character  rests, 
and  it  does  uphold  the  ideals  towards  which  its  pupils 
strive. 

The  world  outside  the  classroom.  —  Fortunately,  educa- 
tion is  more  than  schoohng.  The  development  of  character 
for  good  or  ill  goes  on,  whether  the  child  is  in  school  or 
out  of  school.  His  impulse  to  imitate  what  he  sees  and 
adopt  what  he  likes  in  the  real  world  about  him  is  more 
powerful,  because  more  natural,  than  the  tendency  to 
identify  himself  with  the  artificial  life  of  the  schoolroom. 


SCOUTING  EDUCATION  I9I 

Hence  the  commanding  importance  of  the  playground 
and  the  educational  significance  of  games  that  enlist  a 
boy's  best  self  in  active  cooperation  with  his  fellows. 
If  nothing  better  offers,  he  will  take  to  the  streets  and  find 
his  place  in  a  gang  of  kindred  spirits,  tearing  down  or  build- 
ing up  his  neighbor's  property  and  his  own  character  at 
one  and  the  same  time.  The  real  world  of  the  public- 
school  boy,  "  the  world  in  which  things  of  vital  importance 
happen,"  as  Kipling  puts  it,  is  the  world  outside  the 
classroom  —  the  world  of  the  home  or  the  street,  of  the 
church  or  the  saloon,  of  the  Ubrary  or  the  pool  room, 
of  the  club  or  the  gang,  or  the  world  of  brooks  and  trees 
and  God's  out-of-doors,  or  the  world  of  alleys  and  back- 
yards and  Hell's  Kitchen. 

Teachers  who  are  concerned  with  the  education,  as 
distinguished  from  mere  instruction,  of  their  pupils  are 
earnestly  seeking  to  merge  their  work  with  the  best  in- 
fluences in  the  home,  in  the  church,  and  in  society.  They 
welcome  all  supplementary  means  of  arousing  a  boy's 
ambition,  of  quickening  his  emotions,  of  attracting  his 
interests,  and  of  fixing  his  habits.  They  like  to  see  him 
give  himself  whole-heartedly  to  something  worth  doing, 
whether  it  be  work  or  play,  and  like  to  see  him  stick  to  the 
job  until  it  is  done  They  know  that  self-reliance,  self- 
direction,  and  self-control  come  in  no  other  way,  and  that 
preaching  about  the  finest  ideals  of  Ufe  leaves  the  boy 
untouched,  unless  he  himself  builds  them  into  his  own 
character. 

A  power  for  boy  betterment.  —  It  is  for  these  reasons, 
therefore,  that  I  declare  the  Boy  Scout  movement  to  be 
the    most    significant    educational    contribution    of    our 


192  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

time.  The  naturalist  may  praise  it  for  its  success  in  put- 
ting the  boy  close  to  nature's  heart;  the  moralist,  for  its 
splendid  code  of  ethics;  the  hygienist,  for  its  methods  of 
physical  training;  the  parent,  for  its  abiHty  to  keep  his  boy 
out  of  mischief;  but  from  the  standpoint  of  the  educator, 
it  has  marvelous  potency  for  converting  the  restless, 
irresponsible,  self -centered  boy  into  the  straightforward, 
dependable,  helpful  young  citizen.  To  the  boy  who  will 
give  himself  to  it,  there  is  plenty  of  work  that  looks 
like  play,  standards  of  excellence  which  he  can  appreciate, 
rules  of  conduct  which  he  must  obey,  positions  of 
responsibihty  which  he  may  occupy  as  soon  as  he 
qualifies  himself  —  in  a  word,  a  program  that  appeals 
to  a  boy's  instincts,  and  a  method  adapted  to  a  boy's 
nature. 

The  scout  curriculum.  —  This  is  not  the  place  to  dis- 
cuss the  Boy  Scout  program.  Most  of  you  know  it  much 
better  than  I  do.  But  I  would  consider  myself  a  prince 
among  schoolmen,  if  I  could  devise  a  school  program  in 
which  the  curriculum  should  appeal  so  directly  to  a  boy's 
interests  and  the  courses  of  study  apply  so  serviceably 
to  adult  needs.  Every  task  in  scouting  is  a  man's  job 
cut  down  to  a  boy's  size.  The  appeal  to  a  boy's  interests 
is  not  primarily  because  he  is  a  boy,  but  particularly  be- 
cause he  wants  to  be  a  man.  Scan  the  list:  agriculture 
and  angling,  blacksmi thing  and  business,  carpentering 
and  civics,  dairying  and  mining,  music  and  plumbing, 
poultry  and  printing,  first  aid  and  politeness,  life  saving 
and  nature  study,  seamanship  and  campcraft,  patriotism 
and  cooking,  and  scores  of  other  accomplishments  and 
activities  requiring  accurate  knoweldge  that  is  susceptible 


SCOUTING  EDUCATION  1 93 

of  direct  and  immediate  application  to  everyday  life.  Every 
one  of  these  tasks  holds  the  boy,  not  only  because  he  is 
a  boy  and  likes  to  do  them,  but  because  they  are  tasks 
which  grown  men  find  useful.  It  is  the  man  in  the  boy 
that  is  emphasized,  and  the  type  of  manhood  idealized 
is  that  which  strives  "  to  stand  for  the  right  against  the 
wrong,  for  truth  against  falsehood,  to  help  the  weak  and 
oppressed,  and  to  love  and  seek  the  best  things  of  life." 
Hence  the  scout  oath  taken  by  every  boy  on  becoming  a 
tenderfoot:  "  On  my  honor,  I  will  do  my  best  (i)  to  do 
my  duty  to  God  and  my  country,  and  to  obey  the  scout 
law;  (2)  to  help  other  people  at  all  times;  (3)  to  keep  my- 
self physically  strong,  mentally  awake,  and  morally 
straight." 

The  scout  curriculum  may  appear  superficial  to  the 
pedagogue,  and  doubtless  much  that  is  taught  is  neither 
systematic  nor  comprehensive.  But  scoutcraft  is  not 
intended  to  be  a  substitute  for  schooling.  It  is  a  device 
for  supplementing  the  formal  instruction  of  the  schools, 
by  leading  the  boy  into  new  fields  and  giving  him  a  chance 
to  make  practical  use  of  all  his  powers,  intellectual,  moral, 
and  physical.  The  best  thing  about  it  is  its  extraordinary 
diversity,  reaching  out  to  boys  of  all  degrees  of  mental 
abiHty,  in  all  kinds  of  social  environment,  and  creating 
for  them  a  real  need  to  do  their  level  best. 

Upholding  character  and  citizenship.  —  But  the  most 
significant  contribution  of  the  Boy  Scout  movement  to 
education  is  its  pedagogical  methods.  As  a  teacher,  I 
take  my  hat  off  to  Sir  Robert  Baden-Powell,  the  genius 
who  in  a  bare  decade  has  done  more  to  vitalize  the  methods 
of  character  training  than  all  the  schoolmen  in  this  coimtry 

TREND   IN   ED.  —  1 3 


194  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

have  done  since  the  Pilgrims  landed  on  the  New  England 
coast.  We  have  preached  the  virtues  of  a  government 
of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people,  and  have 
sought  for  the  best  means  of  perpetuating  a  nation  con- 
ceived in  liberty  and  dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all 
men  are  created  equal.  There  have  been  times  when  we 
doubted  whether  a  nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated 
can  long  endure.  We  know  full  well  that  the  experiment 
must  eventually  fail,  if  our  citizens  grow  up  accustomed 
to  the  evils  of  selfishness  and  greed  and  indifferent  to 
the  ravages  of  pillage  and  plunder.  And  failure  is  just 
as  certain,  even  if  a  little  longer  deferred,  if  our  citizens 
are  not  trained  to  participate  actively  and  constructively 
in  upholding  the  virtues  on  which  both  personal  character 
and  good  citizenship  are  based. 

Education  through  habit.  —  In  the  development  of  char- 
acter two  processes  are  constantly  at  work,  one  tending 
to  restrict  the  initiative  of  the  subject,  and  the  other  to 
strengthen  his  personal  will.  The  human  infant  is  a  rank 
individualist.  His  first  cry  is  a  protest  against  the  treat- 
ment he  receives.  He  wants  what  he  wants  when  he 
wants  it.  But  gradually,  despite  his  objections,  he  becomes 
habituated  to  his  environment.  He  must  take  the  food 
suppHed  him,  whether  he  likes  it  or  not,  and  eventually 
he  calls  it  good.  He  acquires  a  language  that  is  not  of 
his  own  making,  and  finally  speaks  as  those  about  him 
speak.  Even  the  inflections  and  intonation  of  voice 
peculiar  to  his  locality  come  to  mark  him  as  provincial. 
He  may  prefer  to  eat  with  his  fingers  and  he  may  abhor 
the  clothes  he  wears,  but  in  time  his  table  manners  and 
habits  of  dress  conform  to  prevailing  fashions.     Tasks  at 


SCOUTING  EDUCATION  1 95 

first  laborious  grow  easy  with  practice,  and  practices,  at 
first  distasteful,  become  agreeable  and  necessary  to  his 
happiness.  This  is  the  process  of  education  through 
habit,  by  which  the  individual  is  accustomed  to  the  re- 
strictions and  requirements  of  his  social  group.  It  is  the 
way  he  acquires  the  Kkeness  of  his  kind;  it  gives  him  his 
morals  and  his  manners,  and  it  sets  standards  of  conduct 
which  he  dare  not  disobey.  Witness  the  tyranny  of  the 
fashions  and  the  punishment  visited  upon  the  obstreperous 
member  of  society  who  ventures  to  disregard  the  injunc- 
tions of  the  prevaihng  code  of  honor  or  the  mandates  of 
the  moral  order.  Habits  are  the  basis  of  all  efficiency  in 
accomplishment,  whether  in  personal  service  or  vocational 
employment.  Otherwise,  we  should  spend  our  days  in 
learning  anew  the  art  of  lacing  our  shoes  or  holding  a  pen 
or  reciting  the  multiplication  table.  Moreover,  a  work- 
man likes  to  do  what  he  can  do  well,  and  doing  something 
well  brings  its  own  reward  in  pride  of  accomplishment, 
a  Kving  wage,  and  contentment  with  results.  The  sat- 
isfaction that  comes  from  doing  an  honest  day's  work  is 
the  surest  guarantee  of  conservative  citizenship. 

The  development  of  individuality.  —  The  other  process 
in  education  exerts  a  force  diametrically  opposed  to  the 
trend  of  custom  and  habit.  It  springs  from  the  innate 
desire  of  the  individual  to  be  himself  rather  than  to 
be  someone  else;  is  the  outgrowth  of  his  impulse  to  so 
protest  when  pressure  is  brought  to  bear  upon  him.  One 
way  consists  in  yielding  to  guidance;  the  other,  in  guiding 
one's  self.  One  force  makes  for  identity  of  kind,  con- 
servatism and  efficiency;  the  other,  for  individuality, 
initiative  and  progress. 


196  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

Scout  pedagogy.  —  These  two  forces,  however,  are  but 
the  two  sides  of  the  same  shield,  opposed,  yet  essentially 
one  in  the  course  of  education.  A  man  rises  on  his  dead 
self  only  in  the  sense  that  he  rises  by  steps  fixed  in  habit. 
The  more  steps  in  his  ladder  securely  fixed,  the  higher  he 
can  rise.  Once  a  child  is  in  control  of  the  complicated 
process  of  walking,  he  may  use  that  habit  in  learning  to 
run,  to  swim,  to  skate,  and  to  ride  a  wheel;  writing,  made 
habitual,  becomes  so  easy  that  the  writer's  whole  atten- 
tion may  be  centered  on  what  he  writes.  Habit  gives 
such  command  of  language  that  speech  unconsciously 
follows  thought;  habit  makes  us  famihar  with  our  alphabet 
and  tables,  written  signs  and  symbols  and  rules  and  ab- 
stract terms;  habit  begets  our  attitudes  and  appreciations, 
and  determines  our  behavior  in  every  crisis  in  life.  Never- 
theless, habit  is  only  the  handmaid  of  invention.  Origi- 
nality consists  in  giving  to  fixed  habits  a  new  organization 
and  a  progressive  existence  on  a  higher  scale.  When 
Bell  invented  the  telephone,  he  used  no  material,  law,  or 
habit  of  operation  not  known  before;  but  he  did  devise 
a  new  combination  of  them,  which  has  forced  us  all  into  a 
new  round  of  customs  and  habits  in  communication. 
Every  normal  human  being,  and  every  social  group,  from 
the  family  to  the  nation,  is  on  the  way  somewhere;  the 
important  thing  is  that  they  should  have  leaders  who 
know  the  way  and  who,  like  trustworthy  scouts,  will  risk 
their  lives  that  their  comrades  may  live. 

While  I  have  been  speaking  in  parable,  you  surely  realize 
that  I  have  had  the  pedagogical  methods  of  scouting  in 
mind.  When  the  tenderfoot  takes  his  oath,  he  promises 
to  do  something.     To  be  sure,  it  is  stated  in  abstract  terms 


SCOUTING  EDUCATION  197 

and  is  a  bit  grandiloquent,  but  it  serves  the  purpose  of 
rounding  up  his  moral  energy.  He  is  asked,  as  it  were, 
to  gird  up  his  loins  and  to  get  set  on  his  mark  for  the  race 
to  come.  Then  he  is  obliged  to  do  something;  in  fact,  he 
has  already  qualified  in  certain  small  "  stunts,"  and  every 
step  in  advance  is  marked  by  new  habits  fixed  through 
persistent  effort.  Step  by  step,  habit  by  habit,  he  passes 
from  grade  to  grade.  The  content  of  his  curriculum  I 
have  already  discussed.  What  concerns  me  now  is  the 
method;  and  that,  I  repeat,  is  superb. 

Doing  well  something  worth  doing.  —  In  contrast  to  the 
loose  control  of  the  home,  sometimes  severe,  often  lax 
and  always  personal,  and  to  the  discipline  of  the  school, 
which  is  generally  mechanical  and  autocratic,  the  methods 
of  scouting  asks  the  boy  to  do  something  that  he  thinks 
worth  while  and  that  he  wants  to  do.  Many  of  the  tasks 
are  self-imposed,  because  the  boy  chooses  what  he  shall 
undertake;  many  of  them  require  practice  which  he  must 
do  alone.  His  best  efforts  are  enlisted  in  the  acquisition 
of  the  right  habit.  And  for  every  success  some  reward 
is  given,  a  testimonial  that  converts  a  universal  weakness 
of  human  nature  into  an  element  of  strength.  A  great 
contribution  to  educational  procedure  —  one  that  reflects 
severely  upon  the  games  and  sports  of  our  schools  and 
colleges  —  is  that  in  scout  competition  there  are  no  losers. 
One  scout's  gain  is  not  another's  loss;  when  one  patrol 
wins,  some  other  one  does  not  go  down  in  defeat.  Yet 
who  will  say  that  scouting  exhibitions  lack  "  pep  "  or  vim 
or  dogged  determination?  Scouting  does  not  depend  for 
its  success  upon  side  lines  and  cheer  leaders;  it  finds  its 
reward  in  the  virtue  of  doing  well  something  worth  doing. 


igS  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

The  human  element.  —  Then,  too,  human  nature  is 
appealed  to  m  the  administrative  system  of  scouting.  The 
device  of  patrol  and  troop  and  community  units  and 
national  organization  puts  the  boy  in  touch  with  other 
scouts  everywhere,  gives  him  responsibility  for  the  conduct 
of  his  fellows,  and  inspires  him  with  pride  in  the  cause. 
I  venture  to  say  that  most  scouts  are  in  closer  touch  with 
their  scoutmasters  than  they  are  with  their  school-teachers, 
and  know  Mr.  West  better  than  they  know  their  super- 
intendent of  schools  or  the  state  commissioner  of  education. 
The  personal  touch  inherent  in  the  system  induces  a  sense 
of  corporate  responsibihty,  makes  a  virtue  of  obedience 
to  law,  and  through  imitation,  gives  concrete  expression 
to  a  code  of  honor  unparalleled  in  modern  chivalry.  Its 
most  striking  feature  is  that  it  stresses  duties  instead  of 
magnifying  rights.  The  twelve  commandments  of  scout- 
ing are  stated  in  positive  terms,  rather  than  in  the  form 
of  the  Mosaic  decalogue:  "  Thou  shalt  not."  The  scout 
is  trustworthy,  loyal,  helpful,  brave,  clean,  and  reverent. 
Each  of  these  laws,  extraordinarily  abstract  in  the  sim- 
pUcity  of  its  formulation,  is  illustrated  in  the  daily  round 
of  every  boy's  life.  The  scout's  duty  to  do  a  good  turn 
daily  —  a  device  worthy  to  rank  with  the  sewing  machine, 
the  steam  engine,  and  the  telegraph,  and  of  infinitely 
greater  worth  than  any  such  mechanical  contrivance  for 
the  development  of  character  and  the  making  of  citizens  — 
puts  the  boy  not  only  in  a  position  to  understand  the  moral 
laws  under  which  he  lives,  but  to  incorporate  them  into  the 
fabric  of  his  life. 

Regenerating  the  American  boy.  —  The  scout  program, 
therefore,   is  essentially  moral  training  for  the  sake  of 


SCOUTING  EDUCATION  1 99 

efficient  democratic  citizenship.  It  gives  definite  em- 
bodiment to  the  ideals  of  the  school,  and  supplements 
the  efforts  of  home  and  church.  It  works  adroitly,  by  a 
thousand  specific  habits,  to  anchor  a  boy  to  modes  of  right 
living  as  securely  as  if  held  by  chains  of  steel;  but  best 
of  all,  it  exhibits  positive  genius  in  devising  situations 
that  test  a  boy's  self-reliance  and  give  full  scope  to  his 
talent  and  originality  and  leadership.  These  two  aspects 
of  the  scout  program  are  so  evenly  balanced  and  so  nicely 
adjusted  as  to  make  them  well-nigh  pedagogically  perfect. 
The  entire  organization  is  a  machine  capable  of  working 
wonders,  not  only  in  the  moral  regeneration  of  the  American 
boy,  but  also  in  fitting  him  to  assume  the  duties  of  an 
American  citizen. 

Scout  leadership.  —  The  more  dehcate  and  intricate 
the  machine,  the  greater  the  need  of  skilled  operators. 
On  you,  therefore,  who  assume  leadership  in  the  Boy 
Scout  movement  rests  a  heavy  responsibility.  If  you  are 
true  to  the  motto  of  scouting,  you,  too,  must  "  be  prepared." 
You  must  know  that  your  business  is  not  primarily  to  make 
cooks  or  campers  or  hikers  or  students  of  nature,  nor 
even  efficient  workers  in  any  vocation.  All  these  are  means 
to  ends,  not  ends  in  themselves.  The  real  purpose  of  your 
office  is  to  help  boys  to  translate  the  Golden  Rule  into 
concrete  terms  and  to  keep  themselves  physically  strong, 
mentally  awake,  and  morally  straight.  I  have  tried  to 
show  you  that  the  method  you  must  follow  is  the  simple 
one  of  fixing  habits  and  creating  situations  that  invite 
leadership.  The  danger  is  that  the  very  simplicity  of 
procedure  may  betray  you  into  mistaking  means  for  ends. 
It  is  the  mistake  that  so  many  fraternal  organizations  for 


200  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

adults  make;  it  is  the  error  into  which  so  many  teachers 
fall.  Be  prepared  to  measure  every  task  by  its  results 
in  character  building.  Weigh  the  relative  value  of  the 
habits  that  you  can  inculcate.  Fix  the  best  ones  by 
insistent  practice,  keep  them  alive  by  repetition,  and  make 
each  one  a  step  to  a  higher  level.  Then  strive  to  locate 
responsibility;  put  on  a  boy'  shoulders  all  the  load  that  he 
can  carry;  increase  it  as  he  gathers  strength ;  let  him  feel  the 
joy  of  mastery;  and  reward  him  according  to  his  service. 

The  program  for  the  future.  —  If  your  vision  is  faulty, 
the  ditch  that  yawns  for  blind  leaders  of  the  blind  is  not 
far  ahead  of  you.  On  the  other  hand,  if  you  see  things 
straight  and  see  them  whole,  you  have  every  inducement 
to  demonstrate  your  ability  to  lead.  Opportunities  to 
show  initiative,  self-direction,  and  self-control  are  not 
confined  to  the  boys  of  your  troops.  Splendid  as  your 
program  is,  it  is  not  beyond  the  reach  of  improvement. 
Genius  gave  it  life,  and  only  genius  can  keep  it  alive. 
If  ever  this  program,  which  I  have  praised  so  highly, 
becomes  formal;  if  your  work  as  scoutmasters  and 
scout  leaders  drops  into  routine;  if  your  system  of 
administration  gets  so  enamored  of  its  success  that  it 
becomes  autocratic,  you  will  all  be  on  the  highroad  to 
oblivion.  The  best  of  athletics  may  grow  stale,  and  the 
strongest  team  may  fail  from  over-confidence.  It  is  rela- 
tively easy  to  build  up  a  business,  but  it  is  extraordinarily 
difficult  to  keep  it  at  its  maximum  efficiency.  The  maxi- 
mum efficiency  of  this  great  movement  depends  finally  upon 
the  worth  of  your  contributions  to  it.  The  call  still  is  for 
men  of  vision,  men  with  initiative,  men  of  nerve  and  daring, 
men  who,  by  every  test,  are  fit  to  be  called  "good  scouts." 


CHAPTER  XII 

EDUCATION  FOR  DEMOCRACY  ^ 

THE  teaching  profession,  it  seems  to  me,  is  singu- 
larly indifferent  to  the  signs  of  the  times.  Either 
we  are  content  to  attend  to  business  as  usual 
because  we  don't  know  what  else  to  do,  or  we  fail  to  realize 
the  significance  of  the  revolution  which  is  upon  us.  It 
would  seem  that  of  all  vocations,  ours  should  be  the  quick- 
est to  respond  to  the  call  to  democracy,  and  the  first  to 
propose  ways  and  means  of  making  democracy  safe  for 
the  world.  Inasmuch  as  a  confession  of  not  knowing 
what  to  do  belies  our  claims  to  professional  leadership, 
and  failure  to  understand  the  meaning  of  events  imphes 
an  awful  ignorance  of  precisely  that  history  which  we  are 
supposed  to  teach,  I  am  obliged,  out  of  polite  considera- 
tion for  my  coworkers,  to  seek  elsewhere  for  the  causes  of 
our  somnolence. 

Our  faith  in  democracy.  —  The  truth  is,  as  I  see  it,  we 
teachers  are  much  like  other  folks;  we  have  not  taken 
our  democracy  very  seriously.  We  have  all  wanted  to 
do  as  we  pleased,  and  to  be  let  alone  in  working  out  our 
own  individual  salvation.  For  this  private  advantage, 
we  have  been  willing  to  entrust  our  civil  government 
to  the  tender  mercies  of  petty  politicians  and  party  bosses; 
we  have  winked  at  the  violation  of  law,  and  tolerated 
slavery,  and  serfdom,  and  industrial  oppression;  we  have 

'  A  revised  reprint  from  the  Teachers  College  Record,  May,  1918. 

201 


202  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

been  indifferent  to  the  ravages  of  plunder  and  greed, 
and  to  the  losses  due  to  administrative  inefficiency.  All 
these  faults  we  have  been  guilty  of  at  times,  —  and  worse, 
if  worse  there  be  —  but  such  faults  as  these  are  in  reality 
the  concomitants  of  our  virtues.  We  have  sinned  in  these 
respects,  simply  because  our  faith  in  mankind  is  so  strong. 
We  are  essentially  optimists,  and  we  have  relied  on  the 
best  in  humanity  to  overcome  the  worst.  In  evidence  of 
our  national  good  intent  I  have  only  to  point  out  what 
has  happened  when  the  public  conscience  has  been  aroused. 
Political  parties  have  been  punished  for  their  shortcomings, 
slavery  has  been  abolished,  plunderers  have  been  over- 
whelmed, the  thraldom  of  child  labor  has  been  lightened, 
corporate  greed  has  been  checked,  and  the  prohibition 
of  social  evils  has  been  enjoined  by  highest  law.  It  is 
characteristic  of  the  democratic  mind  to  believe  the  best 
of  all  mankind,  to  have  faith  that  somehow  the  good  will 
triumph  over  the  bad.  But  it  is  equally  true  of  the  in- 
dividualist that  he  wants  his  own  way,  and  that  he  will 
wreak  his  vengeance  upon  those  who  persistently  betray 
his  confidence.  The  present  world  commotion  shows  that 
the  optimists  have  been  betrayed  by  those  in  whom  they 
put  their  trust.  Vengeance  is  mine,  is  their  watchword. 
The  outcome  bids  fair  to  match  the  bitterness  of  their 
disappointment. 

The  obligation  of  democracy.  —  The  striving  of  the 
world  towards  democracy  is  as  old  as  human  society. 
The  "  inalienable  rights  of  man  "  are  the  natural  outcome 
of  the  instinct  to  self-expression  and  self-realization. 
The  doctrine  of  brotherly  love  formulated  by  Jesus  and 
propagated  by  the  Christian  Church  as  a  world  religion, 


EDUCATION  FOR  DEMOCRACY  203 

has  been  bedded  deep  in  the  consciousness  of  the  modern 
world.  But  nowhere  has  there  been  a  democratic  State. 
The  age-long  struggle  between  autocracy  and  democracy 
has  never  resulted  in  the  complete  suppression  of  the  one 
or  the  complete  victory  of  the  other.  At  best  the  result 
has  been  an  aristocracy  or  oHgarchy,  with  leanings  towards 
autocracy  or  towards  democracy.  The  ordinary  affairs 
of  Hfe  go  on  much  the  same  under  any  decent  government. 
One  must  keep  off  the  grass,  if  the  park  is  worth  preserv- 
ing; keep  the  fire-escape  clear,  if  safety  is  essential;  observe 
the  regulations  of  the  health  officer  in  time  of  quarantine; 
pay  one's  debts,  and  live  up  to  contracts;  help  others  when 
they  are  in  need;  tell  the  truth,  fear  God,  and  shame  the 
devil.  It  matters  a  great  deal,  however,  what  is  one's 
attitude  toward  these  obligations  and  how  one  comes  to 
recognize  them  as  obhgations.  If  the  attitude  is  one  of 
subservient  acquiescence  engendered  by  fear,  or  even  by 
unquestioning  obedience  to  external  authority,  the  lean- 
ing is  towards  autocracy.  If,  on  the  contrary,  conduct 
springs  from  an  understanding  of  the  necessity  of  such 
action,  or  if  obligation  is  accepted  after  reasonable  con- 
sideration by  those  concerned,  the  emphasis  is  democratic. 
A  study  in  extremes.  —  Our  policy  has  been  to  abide  by 
the  rule  of  the  majority.  We  have  advocated  liberty 
under  the  law,  and  assumed  that  the  law  was  just.  Now 
the  previous  question  is  being  put.  Is  the  law  just?  Who 
shall  say?  What  is  liberty?  On  the  answer  to  these 
questions  depends  all  our  future  happiness,  all  our  hope 
for  ourselves,  for  our  children,  and  for  our  country.  If 
justice  cannot  be  assumed  by  the  rule  of  the  majority,  who 
shall  decide  what  is  right?     Shall  a  group  of  intellectuals? 


204  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

Shall  a  political  party?  Shall  an  industrial  corporation? 
Shall  a  labor  union?  Shall  any  one  class  in  the  State  enjoy 
the  privilege  of  setting  standards  for  all  others?  If  not 
a  class  or  a  group  or  a  party,  shall  each  one  decide  what  is 
right  for  himself?  Our  oldest  history  tells  us  in  its  own 
strong  Biblical  phrase,  that  when  "  every  man  did  that 
which  was  right  in  his  own  eyes,"  there  was  anarchy  in 
the  land.  It  may  be  providential  that  we  see  clearly 
to-day  the  logical  end  of  two  extremes  of  government: 
Germany,  the  confessed  autocrat,  surfeited  with  ambition 
and  drunk  with  power,  trampling  on  the  rights  of  individuals 
to  gain  world  dominion  for  a  favored  few;  Russia,  the 
would-be  democrat,  impatient  of  restraint  and  bhnd  to 
all  sense  of  civic  duty,  grovehng  in  anarchy,  that  each 
citizen  may  do  as  he  pleases.  If  these  lessons  shall  be 
learned,  the  war  will  not  have  been  fought  in  vain. 

Living  the  Golden  Rule.  —  Whatever  may  have  been 
the  purpose  of  those  who  started  the  war,  however  selfish 
the  intent  of  either  party  at  the  beginning,  it  is  perfectly 
clear  now  that  the  public  conscience  of  those  opposed  to 
the  forces  of  autocracy  is  stirred  to  the  depths.  The 
whole  world  is  leaning  towards  democracy.  We  may  not 
know  what  democracy  means;  we  may  be  blind  to  the  evils 
of  a  system  that  easily  substitutes  license  for  liberty;  we 
may  be  selling  our  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage;  but  we 
have  reached  the  decision  that  a  change  is  inevitable. 
Indeed,  the  change  has  already  come.  Every  day  a 
new  order  of  Government  is  handed  down,  regulating 
transportation  by  rail  and  water,  fixing  prices  of  necessary 
commodities,  telling  us  what  we  shall  eat  and  how  we  shall 
clothe  ourselves  —  all  to  the  end,  it  is  said,  that  we  may  win 


EDUCATION  FOR  DEMOCRACY  205 

the  war.  It  seems  to  me,  rather,  that  we  are  being  dis- 
ciplined by  an  inexorable  schoolmaster  to  meet  the  hard- 
ships of  the  future.  Just  now,  like  naughty  children,  we 
are  doubtless  scared  into  being  good.  Later  on,  when 
the  fright  is  past,  we  shall  be  disposed  to  slip  back  into  our 
old  ways.  The  slogan,  "  Business  as  usual,"  will  ring 
out  over  all  the  land.  Trade  and  transportation  will  make 
desperate  efforts  to  recoup  their  losses;  store  and  factory, 
farm  and  market,  school  and  college,  will  gravitate  towards 
their  old  positions.  Let  no  one,  however,  make  the  mis- 
take of  thinking  that  any  of  these  enterprises  will  ever 
again  be  what  they  were  before  the  war.  A  government 
that  shows  it  can  take  over  railroads  and  commandeer 
shipping  fleets,  will  never  again  be  helpless  in  the  regula- 
tion of  transportation;  the  power  that  can  fix  the  price 
of  coal  and  wheat,  will  have  the  chance  to  try  it  again 
on  a  larger  scale,  when  the  majority  so  decrees;  if  sub- 
sidies can  be  provided  to  buy  farms,  build  workmen's 
houses,  and  supply  luncheons  for  school  children,  it  is  only 
a  short  step  to  public  largesses  for  all  who  are  hungry  or 
in  need  of  financial  aid.  And  by  these  very  means  democ- 
racy may  be  easily  transformed  into  anarchy.  Call  it 
what  you  will  —  sociahsm,  Bolshevism,  or  something 
worse,  —  we  have  passed  the  era  of  free  competition, 
where  each  stood  on  his  rights  and  was  disposed  to  define 
his  rights  to  suit  himself,  into  another  era,  wherein  the  ideal 
is  justice  for  all,  and  for  each  the  right  to  get  what  he 
deserves.  The  majority  may  continue  to  rule,  but  it  must 
be  a  majority  that  exercises  the  duty  of  protecting  the  rights 
of  the  minority.  While  philosophers  are  striving  to  define 
the  meaning  of  democracy  and  statesmen  are  giving  a 


2o6  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

civic  form  to  social  justice,  schoolmasters  will  be  wrestling 
with  a  new  set  of  pedagogical  problems.  The  doctrine 
that  all  shall  get  what  they  deserve  presupposes  that  the 
largest  possible  number  shall  be  taught  to  want  what  it  is 
right  that  they  should  have.  The  fundamental  problem 
of  a  democratic  State,  as  I  see  it,  is  an  educational  one: 
the  problem  of  teaching  the  proper  appreciation  of  life- 
values  and  of  training  citizens  to  act  in  accord  with  the 
precepts  of  the  Golden  Rule. 

An  educational  challenge.  —  It  is  easy  to  talk  in  general 
terms,  as  I  have  been  doing.  Almost  everybody  now- 
adays who  talks  at  all,  talks  in  that  way.  It  is  a  con- 
venient way  of  concealing  thought.  It  is  high  time, 
however,  that  someone  should  make  concrete  suggestions 
of  the  "  brass  tack  "  variety.  It  is  even  more  important 
that  someone  should  do  something  worth  while.  No- 
where is  the  need  greater  than  in  our  own  field.  I  would 
that  I  could  both  say  the  proper  word  and  do  the  proper 
thing,  but  I  am  neither  a  philosopher  nor  a  pedagogical 
expert.  The  most  I  can  do  is  to  appeal  to  you  graduates 
of  Teachers  College  to  do  your  bit,  and  to  do  it  before  it 
is  too  late.  I  can  put  to  you  the  questions  which  the 
public  will  soon  be  asking,  and  for  which  answers  speedily 
will  be  demanded.  The  reaction  of  any  one  of  us  may  be 
of  little  weight,  but  the  voice  of  25,000  Teachers-College 
students  can  make  itself  heard. 

The  first  question  is.  What  are  the  schools  for?  The 
stereotyped  answer  is.  The  schools  are  for  all  the  people. 
Suppose,  however,  that  when  the  balance  of  power  in  our 
Government  goes  over  to  those  who,  in  Mr.  Schwab's 
words,  "  work  with  their  hands,  "  your  new  masters  say 


EDUCATION  FOR  DEMOCRACY  207 

that  the  schools  are  not,  and  never  have  been,  intended 
to  meet  the  needs  of  their  children,  that  they  were  estab- 
lished to  train  leaders  for  Church  and  State,  that  their 
chief  function  to-day  is  to  equip  a  favored  few  for  profes- 
sional work,  that  they  cater  to  an  aristocracy  of  high- 
brows and  money-getters,  that  they  spend  the  people's 
money  to  make  one  of  a  hundred  the  master  of  the  other 
ninety-nine,  and  that,  in  short,  they  are  not  democratic 
either  in  aim  or  method.  The  ready  retort  to  such  a 
challenge  is  that  American  schools,  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest,  are  open  to  all,  that  no  one  is  denied  educational 
advantages  by  reason  of  race,  creed,  or  previous  condition 
of  servitude,  that  public  education  is  free,  and  that  the 
system  provides  for  instruction  in  any  subject  and  to  any 
extent  that  the  public  is  willing  to  support. 

Is  educational  progress  restricted?  —  But  in  saying  that, 
you  are  really  asking  the  next  question.  What  should  our 
schools  teach?  Should  they  offer  instruction  in  any 
subject  and  to  any  extent  that  the  public  is  willing  to 
support?  Is  the  converse  true,  that  what  the  public, 
or  that  part  of  the  pubHc  that  happens  to  be  in  control, 
does  not  want,  or  has  no  use  for,  should  be  eliminated? 
If  it  be  true  that  class  interests  in  the  past  have  operated 
to  restrict  educational  advantages  to  a  favored  few,  will 
new  class  interests  in  the  future  seek  to  retaliate  by  giving 
special  privileges  to  some  other  class? 

And  finally,  Who  shall  control  our  schools?  Shall  it 
continue  to  be  lay  boards,  chosen  by  popular  vote,  or 
selected  to  represent  some  poHtical  party  or  local  group? 
Shall  our  schools  and  teachers  be  at  the  mercy  of  those 
who,  happening  to  have  a  little  power,  use  it  in  a  little 


208  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

way?  Is  the  expert  in  education  to  be  merely  the  paid 
agent  of  a  board  or  a  party  or  a  labor  union?  How  other- 
wise can  a  democracy  attain  its  ends  but  by  controlling 
the  education  of  future  citizens?  If  some  citizens  are  set 
aside  for  the  purpose  of  teaching,  how  can  you  be  sure 
they  will  teach  the  democratic  faith?  Shall  we  have 
some  day  a  pedagogical  creed  to  which  teachers,  like 
theologues,  must  subscribe?  Will  that  lead  to  trials  for 
heresy  and  the  dismissal  of  nonconformists?  Will  a 
democracy  find  it  expedient  to  substitute  for  the  estab- 
lished church  of  the  old  regime  a  state-supported  and  state- 
controlled  school  system?  If  that  should  come  to  pass, 
wherein  would  democracy  essentially  differ  from  autocracy? 
The  stamp  of  autocracy.  —  Despite  the  apparent  reductio 
ad  absurdum,  these  questions  are  not  trivial.  It  were 
easy  to  point  out  sufficient  cause  for  every  question  listed 
here.  For  example,  who  doubts  that  our  schools  denied 
equal  opportunity  to  all  for  gaining  a  livelihood  until, 
within  a  decade,  the  demand  for  vocational  training  could 
no  longer  be  resisted?  And  who  would  say,  even  now, 
that  children  who  want  training  for  work  in  shop  and 
factory,  for  store  and  countinghouse,  for  farm  and  home, 
can  get  what  they  need  as  freely  and  as  universally  as  those 
who  can  afford  to  go  forward  to  professional  service  can  get 
theirs?  Moreover,  it  is  all  too  true  that  many  of  those 
who  have  profited  most  from  professional  training,  given 
them  at  pubHc  expense,  have  miserably  failed  to  return 
to  the  public  that  kind  of  service  which  professional  honor 
demands.  When  the  great  state  of  New  York  undertakes 
to  prescribe  military  drill,  and  Ohio  to  portray  the  evils 
of  alcoholic  indulgence  by  textbook  and  prescribed  lessons, 


EDUCATION  FOR  DEMOCRACY  209 

we  may  confidently  expect  other  states  to  require  the  study 
of  civics  of  a  particular  brand.  If  German  can  be  elimi- 
nated from  the  schools  by  act  of  a  board  of  education, 
why  not  Latin  or  history  or  mathematics?  If  Garyized 
schools  can  be  a  party  issue  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and 
thrown  out  by  popular  vote  on  the  grounds  of  expense, 
who  knows  when  the  high  schools  and  the  College  of  the 
City  of  New  York  will  go  the  same  route?  If  teachers 
can  be  dismissed  from  service  because  they  cannot  con- 
scientiously support  some  of  the  actions  of  our  present 
Government,  how  can  permanence  of  tenure  be  assured  to 
disloyalists  under  some  succeeding  government?  The 
theory  that  to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils  has  been  too 
long  a  recognized  principle  of  action  to  make  improbable 
that  it  will  never  again  be  revived.  If  democracy  under- 
takes this  line  of  advance,  it  will  need  for  fulfillment  both  a 
State  Church  and  a  State  School,  supplemented  by  Hberal 
largesses  to  the  proletariat,  to  keep  the  citizens  in  order. 
The  final  scene  is  reached  when  the  travesty  of  democracy 
gives  way  to  a  military  dictatorship. 

The  program  of  education.  —  Perhaps  I  have  said  enough 
to  cast  some  doubt  on  the  sufficiency  of  old  ways  and  means 
to  meet  new  conditions.  My  own  beb'ef  is  that  so  long  as 
we  cling  to  our  old  habits  of  thinking  and  acting,  we  shall 
never  solve  the  problems  of  our  new  democracy.  The 
new  order  demands  a  new  pb'losophy  and  a  new  mode  of 
attack.  If  the  difference  between  an  autocratic  State  and 
a  democratic  State  be  a  matter  of  emphasis,  it  follows 
that  the  system  of  education  adapted  to  an  autocratic 
society  will  differ  from  the  system  adapted  to  a  democratic 
society  chiefly  in  the  way  it  leans.     The  autocratic  State 

TREND  IN  ED. —  I4 


2IO  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

puts  power  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  and  trains  them  to  use  it 
in  the  interests  of  a  privileged  class;  it  binds  the  many 
down  by  the  discipline  of  obedience,  of  reverence,  and  of 
poverty.  The  thirst  for  power  stimulates  the  greed  of 
money,  the  search  for  usable  knowledge,  and  the  demand 
for  practical  efficiency.  The  democratic  State,  on  the 
other  hand,  emphasizes  the  rights  of  man,  and  imposes 
on  each  citizen  the  duty  of  being  his  brother's  keeper. 
The  educational  program  of  a  democracy,  therefore,  must 
stress  the  universahty  and  the  practicabiHty  of  moral 
forces. 

Forgetting  relative  worths.  —  A  survey  of  the  recent 
history  of  education  in  the  United  States  raises  consider- 
able doubt  of  our  pedagogical  contribution  to  democracy. 
In  our  universities,  we  have  made  an  idol  of  scientific 
research;  we  have  weighed  and  measured  and  timed 
everything  capable  of  being  accurately  tested  by  quan- 
titative methods;  we  have  used  our  technical  schools  to 
forward  every  conceivable  application  of  science  to  art 
and  industry;  we  have  rejoiced  in  invention,  and  —  too 
often  —  have  set  the  dollar  mark  as  the  crown  of  success 
in  discovery.  In  our  lower  schools  we  have  concerned 
ourselves  with  curricula  and  courses  of  study  and  efficiency 
in  administration.  We  have  systematized  and  standardized 
and  organized  our  work  so  that  untrained  or  half-trained 
teachers  might  get  measurable  results.  From  grade  to 
grade  and  from  school  to  school,  promotion  has  depended 
upon  the  passing  of  examinations  on  what  pupils  have 
accumulated  for  exhibition  purposes.  Had  it  not  been  for 
the  wholesome  common  sense  of  our  pubHc-school  teachers, 
I  doubt  not  that   the   German  standard  of  scholarship 


EDUCATION  FOR  DEMOCRACY  211 

and  the  German  standard  of  efficiency  would  long  ago 
have  dominated  our  lower  schools  as  they  have  controlled 
the  policy  of  our  imiversities. 

Now,  I  have  no  quarrel  with  scholarship  or  scientific 
research.  If  a  democracy  cannot  stand  the  truth,  it  can- 
not endure;  and  if  it  ceases  to  add  to  human  knowledge, 
it  will  surely  stagnate  and  finally  deserve  to  perish.  The 
trouble  with  our  schools  and  colleges  is  that  they  have 
been  satisfied  with  knowledge  put  up,  like  breakfast  foods, 
in  small  packages  with  attractive  labels  but  indigestible 
contents.  The  main  thing  has  been  to  get  knowledge 
because,  in  the  words  laboriously  copied  when  we  were 
learning  to  write,  "  Knowledge  is  Power,''  but  in  our 
getting  we  have  sometimes  forgotten  the  injunction  of  the 
wise  man  to  get  understanding.  We  have  been  so  keen 
to  get  the  exact  letter  of  the  truth,  so  exact  that  the  degree 
of  variability  can  be  measured  and  recorded  in  decimals 
of  many  points,  that  we  have  often  missed  the  spirit  that 
giveth  life.  Exactness  is  no  crime,  however,  and  measure- 
ment is  not  a  sin.  In  fact,  Americans  might  safely  accus- 
tom themselves  to  greater  exactness  and  apply  more 
certain  measurement  to  their  work.  The  fault  is,  not 
that  we  have  been  too  accurate,  but  that  we  have  given 
too  little  attention  to  the  relative  worth  and  moral  sig- 
nificance of  the  facts  at  our  command. 

The  quest  for  moral  standards.  —  The  ideals  of  the 
democracy  towards  which  we  are  leaning  are  essentially 
moral,  rather  than  intellectual  or  material.  The  intel- 
lectual and  the  material  we  have  with  us,  and  we  are  not 
likely  to  quit  our  hold  on  either.  What  I  fear  is  that  we 
shall  not  quickly  seize  upon  the  moral  issues  now  presented 


212  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

to  US  and  incorporate  them  into  our  educational  system. 
There  is  an  autocratic  way  of  doing  things  and  there  is  a 
democratic  way.  The  autocratic  method  stresses  con- 
stituted authority,  hands  down  rules  and  regulations, 
asks  not  the  reasons  why,  assumes  to  know  a  priori  what  is 
best  and  right,  and  brooks  no  interference  from  those  who 
may  prefer  not  to  be  benefited  in  such  predetermined 
fashion.  The  democratic  method  depends  for  its  success 
upon  cooperative  effort  and  the  acceptance  of  standards 
that  are  reasonably  convincing.  The  one  tends  to  drive; 
the  other  to  lead.  The  subject  of  a  monarchical  State  is 
not  asked  to  understand,  he  need  only  obey.  The  free 
citizen  who  understands  but  does  not  obey  is  a  menace  to 
the  State;  he  must  know  the  right,  accept  it,  and  then  un- 
hesitatingly do  his  duty.  In  a  final  analysis,  the  safety 
of  the  State,  the  maintenance  of  civil  order  and  social 
stability,  depends  primarily  upon  the  discipline  that 
makes  right  conduct  habitual. 

Americans  are  obsessed  with  a  knowledge  of  the  rights 
of  man.  We  take  it  in  our  mother's  milk;  it  seems  to 
pervade  the  very  air  we  breathe.  But  we  are  slow  to  learn 
that  for  every  right  there  is  a  corresponding  duty,  for 
every  privilege,  a  corresponding  responsibihty.  A  right 
once  learned  is  immediately  in  working  order,  but  a  duty 
recognized  may  result  in  nothing  more  than  a  twinge  of 
conscience.  A  duty  does  not  become  a  potent  force  until 
it  is  fixed  in  habit.  Once  grant  that  schools  are  respon- 
sible for  the  character  of  their  students,  that  they  must 
teach  the  moral  law,  and  see  that  its  precepts  function 
in  the  lives  of  citizens,  we  are  transported  into  a  new  peda- 
gogical realm.     The  most  important  part  of  our  business, 


EDUCATION  FOR  DEMOCRACY  213 

then,  becomes  a  matter  of  method.  Discipline  of  a  special 
kind  takes  a  commanding  place.  How  shall  right  habits 
be  inculcated,  and  how  shall  selfish  traits  be  eliminated? 
Answer  this  question,  and  you  are  on  the  highroad  to 
success  in  the  new  pedagogical  era. 

Freedom  of  choice.  —  Someone  may  say,  however,  that 
right  habits  and  good  character  are  matters  of  opinion, 
that  what  suits  one  may  not  suit  another,  and  that  it  will 
be  just  as  difiicult  to  satisfy  our  prospective  masters  on 
these  points  as  on  any  other.  My  reply  is  that  the  free- 
dom of  a  democracy  consists  not  in  doing  what  you  please 
as  an  individual,  nor  in  doing  what  you  please  as  at  class 
or  party,  but  rather  in  the  privilege  of  choosing  your  own 
authority  and  following  your  own  leaders.  It  is  the  es- 
sence of  government  to  rule,  and  the  authority  of  a  govern- 
ment must  be  respected.  No  one  of  us  can  escape  the 
necessity  of  obedience  to  custom  and  law.  We  must 
3deld  or  be  outcasts  of  society.  Under  an  autocracy  we 
obey  without  question;  under  a  democracy,  we  question 
and  then  obey.  In  either  case,  obedience  is  a  virtue  and 
disobedience  is  a  sin  or  crime.  The  strongest  motive  to 
conformity  in  the  one  case  is  confidence  in  the  ruhng 
power;  the  dominant  force  in  the  other  is  the  desire  to  see 
things  straight  and  see  them  whole.  The  valuation  of 
authority,  either  in  the  choice  of  leaders  or  the  acceptance 
of  standards,  is  a  responsibility  that  may  not  be  shirked 
by  any  citizen  of  a  democratic  State.  It  is  the  raison 
d'etre  of  public  education  for  all  the  people  and  to  the 
widest  extent. 

Servants  of  the  State.  —  A  democracy  does  not  raise 
the   question   of    transcendental    right.     It   sees   nothing 


214  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

esoteric  in  the  Golden  Rule,  and  knows  that  no  government 
or  nation  can  long  endure  that  disregards  it.  If  the  new 
democracy  be  merely  a  guise  for  a  new  kind  of  class  selfish- 
ness, it  will  not  last;  if  it  have  no  higher  purpose  than  to 
exploit  those  who  disagree,  it  is  bound  to  lose.  I  have 
faith  that  men  capable  of  reconstructing  a  world  that  has 
been  drenched  with  blood,  weighed  down  with  poverty, 
and  overwhelmed  with  sorrow,  will  not  be  found  wanting 
either  in  sympathy  or  vision  or  common  sense.  Mistakes 
will  doubtless  be  made,  and  progress  may  be  slow,  but  if 
the  new  generation  be  taught  aright,  success  will  surely 
come.  The  corner  stone  of  the  new  state  will  be  educa- 
tion—  not  merely  instruction  in  things  worth  knowing 
but  also  discipHne  in  things  worth  doing.  It  will  be 
education  for  citizenship  in  a  society  that  is  pledged  to 
maintain  justice  for  all  and  to  guarantee  to  each  the  at- 
tainment of  what  he  deserves.  This  is  work  for  strong 
teachers  —  teachers  who  can  free  themselves  from  ham- 
pering traditions,  teachers  who  can  rise  above  party  and 
class  and  creed,  teachers  who  practice  what  they  preach, 
and  who  preach  only  the  truth.  Such  teachers  need  fear 
no  act  of  legislature  nor  any  mandate  of  a  governing  board. 
Bound  by  professional  honor,  they  will  command  liberty 
for  themselves  by  assuring  freedom  to  their  fellow  men. 
Servants  of  the  State,  they  will  show  their  loyalty  in  patri- 
otic deeds.  They  call  to  us  to  come  up  higher.  It  is  our 
reasonable  service.  We  can  do  no  less  and  be  true  to  the 
highest  ideals  of  our  profession. 


CHAPTER  Xin 

THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  TEACHERS  ^ 

THE  obvious  outcome  of  the  World  War  in  educa- 
tion is  that  schools  more  than  ever  before  are 
agencies  of  the   State.    The  need  is  for  better 
and  more  patriotic  citizens.     More  and  better  education 
is  the  only  certain  means  of  getting  a  better  citizenship. 

Teachers  are  servants  of  the  State.  —  The  greatest 
obstacles  to  the  Americanization  of  our  schools  are  the 
traditions  affecting  the  employment,  remuneration,  and 
qualifications  of  teachers.  The  teacher  as  a  civil  servant 
whose  foremost  duty  is  the  promotion  of  the  welfare  of 
the  State  is  a  new  conception  in  American  life.  Time  was 
when  the  teacher  was  a  chattel  sold  in  the  open  market, 
or  a  private  tutor  employed  to  give  instruction  in  subjects 
selected  by  parents,  or  an  adherent  of  some  church  whose 
chief  qualification  was  his  ability  to  safeguard  the  tenets 
of  his  sect.  Now  teachers  are  employed  by  boards  of 
education  of  a  district  or  city  under  rules  and  regulations 
only  slightly  limited  by  state  laws.  And  despite  all  laws 
enjoining  it,  the  principle  that  education  is  a  function  of 
the  state  is  recognized;  practically,  the  conduct  of  schools 
is  a  local  enterprise,  controlled  by  petty  officials  who  are 
ever  biased  by  local  interests  and  personal  whims.  The 
teacher  is  in  reality  the  employee  of  the  local  board,  and 
as  an  employee,  is  subjected  to  all  the  vagaries  of  local 

^  An  address  delivered  before  the  students  on  the  occasion  of  the  Opening  Session  of 
Summer  School,  Teachers  College,  191 9. 

215 


2l6  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

pride  and  prejudice.  To  overcome  these  faults,  some 
of  our  states  have  created  laws  to  protect  the  teacher  and 
define  his  work,  but  an  individual  teacher,  no  matter 
how  just  his  cause  or  how  patriotic  his  intent,  has  little 
chance  of  being  heard,  if  his  desires  run  counter  to  the 
whims  of  the  local  board.  Group  action  seems  to  be  the 
only  way  to  progress  in  a  democratic  State. 

Upsetting  tradition.  —  The  tradition  that  a  teacher  is  an 
employee  of  a  family  or  institution  or  community,  to 
give  such  service  as  the  employer  wants,  is  responsible 
for  the  practice  of  hiring  teachers  in  the  cheapest  market. 
When  teachers  are  paid  less  than  janitors,  milkmen,  and 
street  cleaners,  it  is  obvious  either  that  sweatshop  methods 
prevail  or  that  the  services  given  are  of  little  worth. 
Whether  a  person's  service  is  worth  much  or  little  depends 
upon  his  vocational  skill  and  his  will  to  work.  Back  of 
technical  ability  Hes  knowledge.  The  person  who  knows 
what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it  is  an  artisan,  a  trade  worker; 
he  who  also  knows  why  he  does  it,  and  in  his  doing  is  guided 
by  high  ideals,  is  a  professional  worker.  By  tradition, 
teaching  is  a  trade;  we  hope  to  make  it  a  profession  — 
not  merely  for  the  well-being  and  comfort  of  teachers, 
but  because  the  country  has  need  of  instructors  possessing 
culture,  techm'cal  knowledge,  and  professional  skill  who  will 
patriotically  devote  themselves  to  the  service  of  the  nation. 
In  the  Americanization  of  our  public  schools  we  need 
professional  experts,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  those  who  know 
the  kind  of  expert  service  needed,  to  use  all  honorable 
means  of  securing  it. 

A  policy  of  employment.  —  When  teachers  are  regarded 
as  employees,  it  inevitably  follows  that  their  services  are 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  TEACHERS  217 

measured  in  terms  of  private  interest  rather  than  public 
good.  Tenure  of  office,  remuneration,  and  vocational  ad- 
vancement are  all  conditioned  upon  satisfying  their 
employers.  Resistance  to  official  demands,  however  unrea- 
sonable, and  advocacy  of  reforms,  however  desirable,  are 
alike  dangerous  experiments,  when  the  take-it-or-leave-it 
policy  of  employment  is  in  force.  Under  such  circum- 
stances, cooperation  for  any  purpose  except  mutual  pro- 
tection is  hardly  to  be  thought  of.  So  it  happens  that  the 
individual  teacher  is  left  to  himself  to  ply  "  the  sorriest 
of  trades." 

A  premium  on  specialization.  —  Once  grant,  however, 
that  the  Americanization  of  our  public  schools  calls  for 
expert  leadership,  and  that  the  methods  used  and  the 
ends  sought  are  not  subject  to  private  control  or  local 
bias,  and  you  put  teachers  on  a  different  status.  Not 
only  is  a  premium  put  on  culture,  technical  knowledge, 
and  professional  skill,  but  it  becomes  a  patriotic  duty  to 
reahze  the  highest  professional  ideals  in  the  training  of 
American  citizens.  The  individual  teacher  will  find  in- 
spiration and  renewed  courage  in  the  consciousness  of 
marching  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  his  fellows  in  the 
mighty  army  recruited  to  fight  the  battles  of  civilization 
and  modem  democracy. 

Fostering  consciousness  of  kind.  —  The  time  is  past,  it 
seems  to  me,  when  teachers  should  be  dissuaded  from  group 
organizatiDn.  Th«  war  has  made  some  kind  of  organiza- 
tion inevitable  in  that  it  has  given  to  teaching  a  new 
objective  and  to  teachers  a  new  consciousness  of  kind. 
The  new  patriotism,  founded  in  justice  and  devoted  to 
freedom,  must  be  imprinted  on  the  coming  generations. 


2l8  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

It  is  this  sense  of  overwhelming  responsibiUty  that  is 
forcing  our  ablest  leaders  to  devise  ways  and  means  of 
unifying  the  latent  strength  of  the  half -million  of  teachers 
in  the  country.  In  this  effort,  they  are  but  following  at  a 
respectful  distance  the  example  of  our  oldest  professions, 
law  and  medicine,  which  long  ago  set  up  professional 
standards  and  adopted  codes  of  professional  ethics.  They 
also  have  before  them  the  example  of  trade-unions,  and 
some  teachers,  smarting  under  the  injustice  of  insufficient 
wage,  have  not  hesitated  to  grasp  the  hand  of  labor.  The 
time  has  come  when  teachers  must  decide  whether  they 
will  lead  in  their  own  way,  or  be  led  in  some  other  way, 
whether  they  will  set  up  standards  worthy  of  a  profession, 
or  continue  to  be  employees  in  a  trade. 

Professional  standards.  —  An  organization  of  teachers, 
nation-wide  and  properly  authoritative,  must  be  founded 
on  principles  that  will  be  universally  recognized  as  valid, 
and  its  conduct  must  be  above  reproach.  No  selfish  motive 
can  be  allowed  to  interfere  with  the  realization  of  its  ideals. 
If  the  present  world  crisis  makes  such  an  organization 
possible,  it  also  imposes  acceptance  of  professional 
standards. 

A  code  of  professional  ethics,  therefore,  is  the  first  and 
most  important  desideratum  —  a  code  reaching  to  the 
individual  teacher  and  defining  the  purpose  of  „the  organi- 
zation. The  organization  itself  exists  merely  to  consoli- 
date the  strength  of  its  individual  members  and  to  apply 
it  at  strategic  points.  The  problems  of  tactics  and  strat- 
egy, however,  must  be  in  the  hands  of  competent  leaders 
who  themselves  shall  be  guided  by  professional  ideals. 

I  do  not  flatter  myself  that  I  have  any  special  quali- 


THE  ORGAIOZATION  OF  TEACHERS  219 

fications  for  writing  a  code  of  ethics  for  teachers.  A  code 
that  will  command  the  confidence  of  the  pubUc  and  at  the 
same  time  protect  the  rights  and  define  the  responsibihty 
of  the  teacher,  will  be  the  work  of  many  persons.  Con- 
stitutions that  last  are  works  of  genius,  but  most  of  them 
grow  from  very  humble  beginnings. 

An  ethical  code  for  teachers. —  This,  then,  is  my  con- 
tribution: 

1.  Every  teacher  in  the  organization  must  be  one 
hundred  per  cent  American. 

Training  for  citizenship  is  more  than  giving  instruction 
in  school  subjects.  Patriotism,  loyalty,  and  courage  are 
as  contagious  as  measles.  Right  example  is  the  surest 
way  to  inculcate  appreciations  and  attitudes  and  to 
demonstrate  the  value  of  fair  play,  teamwork,  and  self- 
control. 

2.  The  work  of  the  teacher  must  be  professional  in 
character  and  honestly  performed. 

Malpractice  in  teaching  is  more  serious  than  malpractice 
in  medicine;  the  fact  that  proof  of  incompetence  in  the 
teacher  is  buried  in  the  retarded  Hves  of  children  is  no 
release  from  moral  responsibihty.  The  organization  must 
concern  itself  with  the  qualifications  of  teachers  —  their 
training,  certification,  and  classroom  abihty.  A  corol- 
lary is  that  good  service  should  be  rewarded  and  the  honest 
teacher  protected. 

3.  The  teacher,  as  a  faithful  servant,  is  worthy  of  his 
hire. 

No  true  teacher  ever  has  worked,  or  ever  will  work, 
solely  for  money.  The  necessity  of  standardizing  salaries 
in  a  great  school  system  will  always  mihtate  against  the 


220  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

recognition  of  individual  merit,  but  this  is  no  excuse  for 
rating  all  at  the  value  of  the  poorest.  A  living  wage  is 
one  that  counts  the  cost  of  preparation  and  the  value  of 
the  output,  as  well  as  the  expenditure  of  time  and  energy 
in  the  day's  work.  There  should  be  no  discrimination 
against  sex,  grade,  or  school  —  equal  pay  for  equal  work 
by  those  giving  equal  service.  The  same  devotion  to 
the  kindergarten  or  the  rural  school  or  the  high  school 
given  by  teachers  of  equal  attainments,  whether  men  or 
women,  theoretically  merits  the  same  professional  stand- 
ing and  the  same  remuneration.  Practically,  however, 
classification  is  imperative  in  a  school  system  as  a  basis 
for  the  assignment  of  duties  and  adjustment  of  salaries, 
but  it  should  not  operate  to  check  personal  ambition  or 
restrict  professional  advancement.  One  object  of  organiza- 
tion is  to  protect  the  weak  from  exploitation  and  to  help 
them  to  a  higher  professional  and  economic  status.  An- 
other object  of  no  less  importance,  is  to  minimize  the 
practical  difficulties  incident  to  the  operation  among 
teachers  of  the  law  of  supply  and  demand,  and  to  the 
varying  standards  of  fitness  as  set  for  different  grades. 
No  democratic  nation  can  endure  that  does  not  have 
good  teachers.  And  no  teacher  can  give  his  best  who 
does  not  enjoy  a  living  wage. 

4.  The  organization  must  be  honest  and  straightforward 
in  its  dealings  with  the  public. 

Collective  bargaining  is  a  two-edged  sword.  It  must  be 
used  by  the  organization  in  securing  proper  buildings  and 
equipment,  higher  professional  standards  for  teachers, 
better  teaching  in  the  schools,  and  adequate  salaries  for 
those  who  do  the  work.     It  means  appeals  to  public  opinion, 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  TEACHERS  221 

bargaining  with  school  boards,  and  arguments  to  legis- 
lators, but  it  should  not  mean  threats,  intimidation,  and 
strikes.  A  contract  is  inviolable.  The  teacher  who  is 
not  forced  to  accept  appointment  and  who  cannot  be 
locked  out  of  his  schoolroom  has  no  excuse  to  strike. 
When  every  expedient  is  exhausted  and  a  school  or  system 
is  still  unwiUing  to  put  its  work  on  a  professional  basis, 
the  last  resort  that  is  honorable  is  for  teachers  to  refuse 
appointment  and  to  brand  that  school  or  system  as  un- 
patriotic. It  follows  that  no  teacher  with  any  professional 
pride  will  fill  a  place  left  vacant  under  such  circumstances. 

5.  The  organization  should  cooperate  with  every  other 
group  of  citizens  for  the  promotion  of  the  public  good,  but 
should  avoid  entangling  alliances  with  anyone. 

Entangling  alliances.  —  The  teacher  occupies  a  pecuHar 
position  in  the  body  politic.  He  instructs  children  in 
the  rights  and  duties  of  citizens.  His  wards  of  to-day 
are  the  voters  of  to-morrow.  Some  of  them  will  be  found 
in  every  group,  party,  sect,  and  organization  that  exists 
in  the  community.  He  should  teach  them  the  fundamental 
principles  of  American  life  and  help  them  to  make  wise 
choices  in  their  affiliations,  but  he  may  not  proselytize 
or  conduct  propaganda  for  any  cause  on  which  citizens 
are  divided.  A  decent  respect  for  the  opinions  of  others 
must  characterize  all  that  he  does.  The  organization, 
therefore,  which  acts  as  the  super-teacher  cannot  favor 
either  Jew  or  Gentile,  republican  or  democrat,  capitalist 
or  laborer.  It  honors  them  all  for  the  good  they  scrive 
to  do,  and  will  join  with  them  in  all  good  works,  but  it 
cannot  be  subservient  to  anyone.  I  realize  that  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor  is  potentially  one  of  the 


222  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

most  beneficent  organizations  in  the  United  States,  and  I 
have  the  highest  regard  both  for  its  leaders  and  for  their 
objects,  but  it  would  be  a  mistake  both  for  the  Federation 
of  Labor  and  for  the  prospective  organization  of  teachers, 
to  form  an  offensive  and  defensive  alliance.  It  might 
be  the  easiest  way  to  secure  an  increase  of  teachers'  salaries, 
but  more  pay  is  not  the  only  object  of  a  teachers'  organiza- 
tion, and  not  the  one  that  will  insure  its  greatest  usefulness 
either  to  the  profession  or  to  the  public. 

It  would  be  just  as  fatal  to  become  entangled  with  the 
Manufacturers'  Association,  the  Bar  Association,  the 
Christian  Association,  or  the  Democratic  Party.  If  this 
latter  suggestion  is  ludicrous,  so  also  is  the  example  set 
by  some  groups  of  teachers  who  have  already  identified 
themselves  with  the  labor  organizations.  "  Friends  with 
all,  but  aUies  of  none,"  must  be  the  slogan  of  a  teachers' 
organization. 

The  attainment  of  professional  aims.  —  These  five 
points  seem  to  me  worthy  of  consideration  by  those  who 
would  write  a  code  of  ethics  for  teachers  and  a  constitu- 
tion for  a  teachers'  organization.  My  chief  concern  is  to 
free  teachers  from  local  oppression,  to  change  their  status 
from  employees  of  a  school  board  to  servants  of  the  State, 
to  demand  of  them  professional  fitness,  and  to  expect  of 
them  professional  service,  and  to  evaluate  their  worth  by 
their  contribution  to  American  citizenship.  Once  these 
ends  are  attained,  I  am  certain  the  public  will  gladly  pay 
the  price.  Center  the  united  strength  of  half  a  million 
of  teachers  on  these  points,  and  the  teachers'  millennium 
will  soon  be  ushered  in. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  PROFESSIONAL  TRAINING  * 

THE  problem  of  professional  training  is  to-day  the 
most  important  problem  in  the  administration 
of  American  miiversities.  Reckoned  in  terms  of 
cost,  or  of  equipment  necessary,  or  of  students  and  teachers 
engaged,  there  is  no  other  feature  of  university  work 
so  prominent.  Indeed,  if  student  population  continues 
to  increase  at  aaything  like  the  ratio  of  increase  experi- 
enced in  the  last  decade,  the  time  is  surely  coming  when 
some  of  our  universities  —  particularly  state  univer- 
sities —  will  be  exclusively  devoted  to  professional  train- 
ing and  to  the  prosecution  of  research  —  itself  a  highly 
specialized  form  of  professional  training.  The  academic 
instruction  now  given  in  the  freshman  and  sophomore 
years  will  be  relegated  to  junior  colleges,  as  is  now  being 
done  in  California,  where  the  State  University  is  over- 
crowded. Even  a  short  look  ahead  justifies  special 
consideration  of  the  nature  and  extent  of  professional 
training  in  the  future  development  of  the  university. 

Shortening  the  period  of  apprenticeship.  —  What  is 
professional  training?  Let  me  say  at  the  outset  that  I 
do  not  regard  it  as  anything  esoteric.  It  is  merely  a  device 
to  shorten  the  period  of  apprenticeship  undertaken  by 
every  learner  who  would  acquire  the  knowledge  and  skill 
possessed  by  the  leaders  in  his  field.     It  is  a  means  of 

*  An  address  delivered  at  the  inauguration  of  Lotus  D.  Coffman  as  president  of  the 
University  of  Minnesota   1921. 

223 


224  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

carrying  the  novice  over  the  road  already  trod  by  his 
masters,  and  of  saving  him  from  some  of  the  dangers  that 
lurk  in  his  way.  Its  highest  aim  is  attained  when,  in 
addition  to  the  modicum  of  knowledge  and  technical 
skill  required  for  admission  to  the  profession,  the  young 
practitioner  goes  forth  with  unselfish  ideals  of  service  and  a 
mental  equipment  that  impels  him  to  develop  his  own 
professional  strength. 

Knowledge,  skill  and  ideals.  —  The  aim  of  the  pro- 
fessional school  is  to  fit  its  graduates  to  give  expert  service 
in  a  society  that  feels  its  need  of  technical  skill  and  is 
willing  to  pay  for  it.  The  world  buys  products  of  human 
labor,  but  what  it  really  pays  for  is  the  technical  skill  of 
the  worker.  And  back  of  technical  skill  lie  specialized 
knowledge  and  the  fine  art  of  using  it  properly.  Indeed, 
the  only  difference  between  the  artisan  who  repeats  a 
thousand  times  an  hour  the  same  clever  trick  of  manipu- 
lation, and  the  operative  skill  of  the  great  surgeon,  lies  in 
the  extent  of  knowledge  focused  on  their  tasks  and  the 
ideals  that  inspire  the  workers.  Both  workers  may  have 
skill  of  the  highest  order,  but  in  the  one,  the  center  of 
control  is  the  spinal  cord;  in  the  other,  a  higher  center 
takes  charge.  Specialized  knowledge,  high  ideals,  tech- 
nical skill  —  these  three  are  the  trinity  of  professional 
guidance. 

Proportioning  professional  aims.  —  It  follows,  therefore, 
that  a  professional  school  should  set  up  three  dominant 
ends  to  aim  at.  In  its  curriculum  it  should  strive  to 
organize  and  systematize  the  knowledge  available  in  its 
particular  field  so  that  its  students  may  get  the  essential 
facts  needed  at  the  beginning  of  their  career;  in  its  teaching 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  PROFESSIONAL  TRAINING        225 

it  should  give  inspiration  to  creative  effort  and  altruistic 
service;  and  at  some  stage  of  its  training  provision  must  be 
made  for  gaining  technical  skill.  The  pedagogical  prob- 
lems of  all  professional  schools  grow  out  of  these  three 
fundamental  requisites.  These  factors,  however,  are  all 
variable  quantities.  A  professional  school  may  be  accept- 
able in  general  and  yet  be  weak  in  one  or  more  of  these 
essentials.  The  ideals  that  guide  the  faculty  may  be  rightly 
conceived,  and  yet  fail  to  function  in  the  lives  of  students  and 
graduates.  The  knowledge  gained  in  course  may  be  defect- 
ive because  of  lack  of  scholarship  on  the  part  of  instructors, 
want  of  intelligence  in  students,  or  through  bad  teaching. 
Technical  skill  may  be  purchased  at  too  great  a  cost,  or 
neglected  to  the  point  of  leaving  graduates  helpless  on 
entering  their  vocational  employment.  Right  propor- 
tion in  the  adjustment  of  these  essentials  is  the  crux  of 
administration  in  every  type  of  professional  school. 

The  curriculum  of  the  professional  school.  —  Consider 
first  the  problem  of  the  curriculum.  The  professional 
student  is  not  concerned  with  science  in  general,  or  phi- 
losophy in  general,  or  anything  else  in  general.  His  needs 
are  very  specific.  He  is  given  absurdly  short  time  to  get 
the  information  that  scholars  and  masters  of  his  subject 
have  been  collecting  for  centuries.  His  task  is  to  select 
what  is  usable,  to  rearrange  and  classify  it,  to  order  it  in 
such  a  way  that  principles  shall  emerge  which  may  guide 
him  to  new  knowledge  or  direct  his  practice.  The  whole 
process  of  education  hitherto  experienced  is  now  reversed. 
Instead  of  getting  a  liberal  education  that  aims  to  develop 
the  man  through  culture  and  discipline  of  academic  studies, 
the  professional  student  finds  himself  in  a  situation  that 

TREND  IN   ED. —  1 5 


226  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

demands  he  focus  all  his  strength  on  making  himself  an 
intelligent,  conscientious,  efficient  technical  worker.  There 
is  no  room  for  academic  instruction  in  a  professional 
curriculum  once  professional  training  really  begins.  The 
mental  attitude  of  the  student  precludes  the  possibiHty 
of  success,  and  the  needs  of  the  profession  make  it  imprac- 
ticable. No  professional  curriculum  gives  half  as  much 
as  is  available  in  any  professional  field,  nor  half  as  much 
as  the  practitioner  in  any  particular  field  can  profitably 
use.  Unless  the  liberal  education  acquired  before  pro- 
fessional training  begins  is  dynamic  and  continues  to 
function  in  making  the  man,  there  is  small  chance  of  further 
development  under  professional  training.  On  the  other 
hand,  an  education  that  does  not  result  in  making  a  man 
good  for  something  is  an  anomaly  in  this  work-a-day  world. 
Vocational  training  is  the  complement  of  academic  train- 
ing. It  can  never  be  a  substitute  for  a  liberal  education, 
and  it  should  never  be  confused  'either  in  aim,  content,  or 
method  with  academic  training. 

Conflicts  in  organization.  —  A  part  of  our  trouble  comes 
from  the  organization  of  our  university  system  and  arises 
from  the  fact  that  students  are  admitted  to  professional 
schools  poorly  prepared  for  professional  training.  The 
lack  of  academic  training  in  some  essential  subjects  ex- 
cuses the  introduction  into  the  professional  curriculum 
of  subjects  that  properly  belong  to  the  college.  The 
consequence  is  that  most  of  our  professional  curricula 
are  partly  academic.  On  the  other  hand,  no  American 
college  that  I  know  confines  its  students  to  instruction 
that  has  no  bearing  on  their  future  vocation.  More  and 
more  the  American  college  caters  in  its  later  years  to  the 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  PROFESSIONAL  TRAINING        227 

professional  interest  of  its  students.  This  overlapping 
of  the  college  and  the  professional  school  is  peculiarly 
American;  it  is  the  natural  outcome  of  our  individualistic 
system  of  higher  education. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  professional  school,  the 
interlacing  of  academic  and  vocational  courses  has  two 
serious  consequences.  First,  it  tends  to  shorten  the 
period  set  apart  for  professional  training,  and  in  the  second 
place  it  intrudes  into  the  professional  school  academic 
standards  and  methods  of  instruction  wholly  foreign  to 
the  professional  spirit. 

Limits  set  by  time.  —  The  time  that  can  be  devoted  to 
professional  training  is  determined  by  hard  economic 
facts.  Theorizing  on  what  the  profession  demands  or 
what  society  should  have  by  way  of  expert  service  plays  a 
minor  part.  Society  gets  in  the  long  run  what  it  is  willing 
to  pay  for.  Professional  workers,  Hke  other  capitalists, 
are  not  inclined  to  increase  their  stock  in  trade  beyond 
the  point  of  satisfactory  economic  return.  Fortunately, 
however,  the  professional  worker  is  an  idealist  who  counts 
as  part  of  his  reward  the  joy  he  finds  in  his  work.  But 
by  and  large,  expert  service  is  balanced  by  a  cash  equiv- 
alent, the  size  of  which  predetermines  the  expertness 
of  the  service  as  measured  by  the  time  expended  in  getting 
it.  Lengthening  a  professional  course  is  not  necessarily 
synonymous  with  raising  standards.  Passing  the  limit 
of  satisfactory  economic  return  inevitably  tends  to  de- 
crease the  number  of  applicants  or  to  lower  the  profes- 
sional ability  of  those  content  to  plod  through  a  longer 
course.  The  curriculum  may  be  lengthened  upwards, 
therefore,  only  if  the  graduates  can  increase  their  income 


228  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

enough  to  warrant  the  increase  of  capital  represented  in 
their  training.  So  long  as  only  a  few  can  profit  from  a 
lengthened  curriculum,  the  device  of  a  graduate  profes- 
sional course,  as  distinguished  from  research  work,  is  the 
obvious  way  of  meeting  the  situation. 

Crowding  the  curriculum.  —  The  output  of  productive 
scholarship,  increasing  as  it  is  every  year  in  all  professional 
fields,  puts  a  heavy  strain  on  professional  teaching.  Alert 
teachers  find  something  new  to  add  to  their  instruction 
every  year.  Some  teachers  in  every  faculty  lack  the 
ability  to  substitute  the  new  for  the  old,  and  go  on  teach- 
ing this  year  what  they  taught  last  year.  They  invariably 
excuse  themselves  by  an  appeal  to  mental  discipline,  as 
though  mental  discipline  could  best  be  secured  by  present- 
ing half-truths  or  irrelevant  facts.  Others  add  to  an 
overcrowded  course  more  and  more  material  until  their 
students  succumb  to  mental  dyspepsia.  But,  with  the 
best  of  foresight,  the  inevitable  tendency  is  toward  an 
overcrowded  curriculum,  and  its  accompanying  discomforts 
for  both  teachers  and  students. 

Economy  of  time  for  the  student  and  efficiency  of 
teaching  for  the  instructor  are  vital  problems  before  every 
faculty.  I  suppose  the  only  method  of  determining  cor- 
rect procedure  is  by  trial  and  error.  The  trouble  with 
most  college  faculties  is  that  they  make  the  trial  without 
profiting  from  their  errors.  They  don't  bury  their  mistakes, 
as  physicians  do,  but  they  do  graduate  them. 

Paving  the  way  to  specialization.  —  The  introductory 
courses  in  most  of  our  professional  schools  are  the  chief 
obstacles  to  lengthening  the  curriculum  by  extending  it 
(Jownwards.     If  they  are  really  pre-professional,  are  they 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  PROFESSIONAL  TRAINING        229 

the  best  and  most  expeditious  means  of  getting  students 
ready  for  serious  work  in  the  several  fields  in  which  they 
specialize?  The  stock  answer  that  these  courses  are  well 
taught,  that  they  are  comprehensive,  and  that  they  afford 
excellent  mental  discipHne,  is  beside  the  mark.  Grant 
all  that.  The  same  can  be  said  for  scores  of  other  courses  — 
some  of  which  would  be  of  incomparably  greater  worth 
to  the  farmer  or  the  engineer  or  the  physician  who  may  be 
asked  to  represent  his  constituents  on  the  County  Board 
or  in  the  Legislature,  or  who  in  his  leisure  hours  wishes  to 
read  his  daily  paper  intelligently  and  find  pleasure  in  human 
affairs. 

The  fact  is,  I  assume,  that  these  so-called  introductory 
courses  are  included  in  the  curriculum,  first,  because  they 
are  preparatory  to  the  later  work,  and,  second,  because  by 
university  tradition  (but  more  because  of  university 
poverty)  they  are  regarded  as  fundamental.  I  am  willing 
to  grant  that  early  in  the  course,  preparation  should  be 
made  for  what  is  to  follow;  but  every  hour,  from  the  time 
the  student  enters,  is  a  preparation  for  all  that  comes 
after.  Any  line  that  may  be  drawn  between  general  and 
special  courses,  or  between  pure  and  appHed  sciences,  is 
purely  artificial  and  arbitrary.  The  whims  of  academic 
teachers  too  often  determine  what  introductory  courses 
shall  be  given  and  how  they  shall  be  taught.  Professional 
needs  make  way  before  the  omniscience  of  academic 
specialists. 

Consulting  the  specialist.  —  The  opinion  of  specialists 
on  matters  outside  their  own  field,  however,  is  of  no  more 
consequence  than  the  opinion  of  other  good  people.  Indeed, 
it  may  be  not  quite  so  good,  if  their  personal  interests  are 


230  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

involved.  Nevertheless,  interdepartmental  courtesy  is 
so  prevalent  in  every  college  faculty  with  which  I  have 
been  connected,  that  it  becomes  dangerous  to  question  the 
judgment  of  a  strong  man  entrenched  behind  the  entangle- 
ments of  his  own  specialty.  The  fact  is,  however,  that 
there  is  no  one  course  universally  recognized  in  American 
colleges  as  the  best  introductory  course  in  any  depart- 
ment. And  even  if  the  topics  treated  appeared  on  paper 
to  be  the  same,  the  personahty  of  teachers  and  their  selec- 
tion of  illustrations  would  differentiate  their  instruction. 
The  choice  of  topics  for  such  courses  has  been  conditioned 
by  the  interests  of  teachers  and  the  needs  of  students. 
The  needs  of  investigators  in  the  several  fields  have  un- 
doubtedly had  first  consideration,  and  next  have  come  the 
needs  of  students  in  the  older  professional  schools.  A 
new  school,  such  as  the  school  of  agriculture  or  journalism 
or  business,  has  a  hard  row  to  hoe  and  receives  tardy 
acknowledgment  of  its  rights. 

A  matter  of  false  economy.  —  Probably  the  strongest 
prop  for  the  idiosyncrasies  of  collegiate  heads  of  depart- 
ments is  the  disposition  of  those  who  hold  the  purse- 
strings  to  take  the  cheapest  way.  It  undoubtedly  costs 
less  to  give  the  same  introductory  courses  for  all  students, 
at  least  during  the  formative  period  of  university  history; 
but  there  comes  a  time  when  the  student  enrollment  in  a 
particular  school  is  large  enough  to  justify  special 
consideration.  For  example,  it  would  not  appreciably 
increase  the  cost  of  instruction  in  most  of  the  science  de- 
partments of  a  large  university  to  give  special  introductory 
courses  to  students  in  the  school  of  agriculture  or  engineer- 
ing or  medicine.     If   that   were   done   intelligently,    the 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  PROFESSIONAL  TRAINING        23 1 

selection  of  topics  could  be  restricted  to  principles  needed 
by  the  particular  group  of  students,  and  all  of  the  illustra- 
tions might  have  a  direct  bearing  on  the  professional 
course.  And  the  proper  persons  to  decide  what  principles 
are  needed  and  what  illustrations  are  most  serviceable, 
are  those  who  have  the  professional  understanding.  The 
result  would  surely  be  a  better  preparation  for  professional 
work  and  a  saving  of  students'  time.  Otherwise,  I  see 
no  escape  from  an  overcrowded  curriculum,  with  the 
inevitable  consequence  of  narrow  specialization  and  bad 
teaching. 

Meeting  professional  needs.  —  It  may  be  too  much  to 
expect  that  the  American  professional  school  should  so 
early  burst  the  swaddHng  bands  of  its  academic  nurse. 
Our  oldest  university  professional  schools  had  their  begin- 
ning scarcely  more  than  fifty  years  ago,  and  thirty  years 
ago  the  best  medical  school  and  the  best  law  school  in  the 
city  of  New  York  were  really  proprietary  institutions. 
The  foundations  of  agriculture  and  engineering  were  laid 
under  the  stress  of  our  civil  war,  but  the  superstructure 
as  we  know  it  has  been  built  in  the  last  thirty  years. 
These  schools  are  all  offshoots  of  the  college,  and  the 
college  suppKed  most  of  their  early  teachers.  What 
wonder,  then,  that  academic  ideals  of  scholarship  and  aca- 
demic methods  of  teaching  found  their  way  into  the  pro- 
fessional schools.  The  framework  and  nomenclature  of 
the  college  still  remain.  We  have  departments  and  sub- 
jects of  study  and  semesters  and  credits  —  all  according 
to  the  strict  letter  of  the  academic  law.  And  yet  we  know 
that  a  department  in  the  academic  sense  exists  for  the 
development  —  not  to  say  illimitable  expansion  —  of  a 


232  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

subject,  even  to  the  bankruptcy  of  the  institutional  purse. 
A  professional  school  has  no  need  of  departments  except 
for  administrative  convenience.  It  has  no  excuse  for 
courses  of  set  length  or  for  credits  measured  in  semester 
hours.  It  needs  only  a  faculty,  because  a  faculty  as 
distinguished  from  a  department  in  our  university  system 
exists  to  protect  and  further  the  interests  of  a  particular 
group  of  studenrs.  Professional  students  demand  that 
their  instruction  concern  itself  with  the  real  work  of  life. 
Such  a  demand  is  perfectly  legitimate,  and  no  professional 
school  can  afford  to  ignore  it.  In  fact,  so  far  as  I  know, 
there  is  no  other  end  worth  working  for  in  a  professional 
school.  We  must  rid  ourselves  of  the  notion  that  because 
an  act  or  a  process  is  simple  or  common,  therefore  it  is  un- 
worthy of  a  place  in  a  university  school.  The  material 
of  instruction  in  a  professional  school  cannot  be  measured 
by  academic  standards.  The  needs  of  the  practitioner 
in  his  practice  are  the  sole  standards  for  determining  what 
he  should  be  taught.  The  binding  of  a  wound  or  the 
tying  of  an  artery  is  not  a  superlative  test  of  intelligence, 
but  no  medical  school  thinks  of  graduating  a  physician 
without  giving  that  ability.  The  professional  school 
must  teach  what  the  student  needs  and  has  not  already 
learned. 

Padding  the  curriculum.  —  A  corollary  to  this  proposi- 
tion is  that  what  the  professional  student  needs  should  be 
taught  in  the  most  efficient  way  and  in  the  shortest  possible 
time.  A  professional  school  has  no  excuse  for  following 
academic  tradition  in  giving  courses  all  of  the  same  length 
and  mostly  of  the  same  credit.  Graduates  complain  of 
padding  in  some  courses  given  by  academically  minded 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  PROFESSIONAL  TRAINING        233 

teachers.  How  can  it  be  otherwise,  if  an  instructor  must 
spread  over  a  semester,  three  hours  a  week,  what  might  be 
better  done  in  one  third  or  one  fourth  that  time?  I  know 
the  disposition  of  college  faculties  to  look  askance  at 
courses  tliat  can  be  given  in  less  than  semester  units. 
Some  are  sure  to  say  that  they  are  not  of  university  grade. 
My  reply  is  that  such  critics  are  not  of  professional  grade; 
they  are  either  academic  or  research  teachers.  And  no 
professional  school  should  be  controlled  either  by  an  aca- 
demic or  a  research  faculty.  The  professional  school 
that  hesitates  to  teach  what  is  needed  by  the  practitioner 
in  his  practice,  or  to  teach  it  adequately  and  in  the  short- 
est way  is  headed  toward  the  tail  end  of  the  procession. 

Improvement  in  university  teaching.  —  It  takes  more 
nerve  than  I  have  to  discuss  the  practical  problems  of 
methods  of  teaching  in  a  university.  One  may  have 
his  suspicions  of  the  procedure  behind  the  closed  doors 
of  a  college  classroom,  but  only  the  students  subjected 
to  the  ordeal  are  really  in  a  position  to  judge.  But  students 
are  not  competent  to  pass  judgment  on  a  teacher's  work 
except  in  an  empirical  way,  by  comparison  with  the  work 
of  other  teachers.  The  most  serious  obstacle  to  good 
workmanship  in  the  teaching  profession  is  the  fact  that 
the  teacher  rarely  has  a  chance  to  measure  himself  with 
his  equals.  He  deals  only  with  his  inferiors  in  point  of 
intelhgence,  experience,  and  skill.  What  wonder,  then, 
that  some  teachers  fall  into  ruts,  become  intolerant  of 
innovations,  and  resentful  of  criticism  either  from  their 
students  or  colleagues? 

There  is,  however,  one  general  principle  of  teaching 
that  should  commend  itself  to  every  instructor  in  a  pro- 


234  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

fessional  school.  Granted  that  no  professional  student 
can  possibly  get  in  the  time  allowed  for  a  professional 
course  all  that  he  needs  in  his  future  career,  it  follows  that 
the  materials  of  instruction  should  be  those  of  most  prac- 
tical service,  and  should  be  presented  in  such  a  way  as  to 
beget  ^  the  cleanest  understanding  of  their  use.  Useful 
knowledge  comes  from  facts  carefully  coordinated  —  done 
up  in  packages  and  labeled  "  principles.'^  There  is  no 
one  best  method  of  doing  anything  in  general,  but  there 
may  be  a  best  method  for  a  particular  worker  under  very 
particular  conditions,  to  do  a  particular  thing.  The 
teacher  who  is  alive  to  his  responsibility,  conscious  of  his 
faults  and  ambitious  to  improve,  will  find  a  better  way  of 
doing  his  work  with  each  succeeding  class.  The  pity  is 
that  he  should  be  willing  to  travel  the  path  alone,  giving 
pain  to  himself  and  doing  injury  to  others,  when  so  many 
of  his  predecessors  and  colleagues  are  competent  to  act 
as  guides. 

Craftsmanship  for  the  practitioner.  —  Intelligent  work- 
manship is  the  final  test  of  professional  ability.  High 
ideals  and  abounding  knowledge  will  not  save  the  prac- 
titioner from  merited  condemnation,  if  he  fails  in  tech- 
nical skill.  Malpractice  in  medicine  is  not  essentially 
different  from  incompetence  in  farm  management.  Such 
competence  as  is  necessary  to  start  the  professional  worker 
in  the  right  way  must  come  from  practice  under  a  master. 
Technical  skill  is  established  in  habit.  Bad  habits  are 
as  easily  acquired  as  good  habits  —  and  far  harder  to 
break.  The  steps  in  habit  formation  are  three:  (i)  the 
learner  should  know  what  he  is  expected  to  do;  (2)  he  should 
be  shown  how  to  do  it;  and  (3)  he  must  be  kept  doing  the 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  PROFESSIONAL  TRAINING        235 

right  thing  until  it  becomes  automatic.  The  conscious 
effort  of  an  intelligent  learner  aids  powerfully  in  determin- 
ing the  proper  procedure  in  a  particular  case,  but  only 
persistent  practice  can  ever  give  the  skill  demanded  of 
the  successful  practitioner. 

Improvement  of  technical  skill.  —  Some  professional 
schools,  like  law,  medicine,  and  engineering,  have  a  well- 
defined  body  of  special  knowledge  which  can  be  imparted 
to  relatively  young  students.  The  business  of  such  a 
school  is  to  uphold  its  professional  ideals  and  give  com- 
petent instruction  in  professional  subjects,  leaving  the 
acquisition  of  technical  skill  to  come  during  a  period  of  ap- 
prenticeship in  an  office,  a  hospital,  or  a  shop,  under  the  eye 
of  a  master.  In  the  case  of  other  professional  schools,  hke 
those  of  teaching,  journalism,  and  agriculture,  the  graduate 
must  make  good  the  first  day  on  the  job,  at  least  have 
the  ability  to  conceal  his  faults.  Under  such  conditions, 
technical  skill  is  at  a  premium.  It  is  true,  however,  in 
every  profession  that  technical  skill  is  an  asset  which  must 
be  acquired,  if  not  in  course,  then  in  the  lower  grades  of 
professional  service.  How  much  should  be  given  in  the 
professional  school  is  always  determined  by  the  condi- 
tions prevailing  in  the  profession.  The  profession  that 
expects  its  novice  to  stand  on  his  feet  when  he  graduates 
must  teach  him  to  walk  while  in  school.  It  does  not 
follow,  however,  that  a  college  graduate  needs  the  same 
automatic  precision  in  technical  skill  that  the  trade  worker 
finds  necessary.  The  lower  the  intelligence  of  the  worker, 
the  greater  need  of  training  in  habit;  the  higher  the  in- 
telligence, the  more  can  be  left  to  self -direction.  But 
every   graduate    of    a    professional   school    should    have 


236  THE  TREND  IN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

practice  enough  in  doing  the  real  work  of  his  future  vocation 
to  make  him  conscious  of  his  faults  and  to  give  him  con- 
fidence in  his  ability  to  direct  himself  in  the  apphcation 
of  his  knowledge.  It  is  not  a  question  of  the  necessity 
of  practical  work;  that  must  be  conceded.  The  real 
question  is,  how  and  when  can  it  best  be  given?  Given 
in  one  way,  the  college  is  reduced  to  the  rank  of  a  trade 
school;  given  in  another  way,  it  places  the  institution  on 
the  professional  plane. 

The  basis  for  continued  growth.  —  Professional  training 
as  I  have  said,  is  merely  a  device  to  shorten  the  period  of 
apprenticeship  undertaken  by  every  learner  who  would 
acquire  the  knowledge  and  skill  possessed  by  the  leaders 
in  his  field.  The  professional  school  teaches  only  a  part 
of  the  game;  it  succeeds  best  when  it  induces  its  students 
to  become  learners  during  the  rest  of  their  lives.  When  it 
provides  the  minimum  required  of  its  graduates  on  enter- 
ing their  vocations,  the  rest  of  their  instruction  may  safe- 
ly deal  with  the  reasons  underlying  their  professional 
practice.  These  reasons  are  embodied  in  the  specialized 
knowledge  that  I  have  characterized  as  an  essential  factor 
in  professional  training. 

A  golden  mean.  —  It  is  obvious  that  the  reasons  for  a 
particular  treatment  can  best  be  illustrated  by  reference 
to  the  act  itself.  It  is  the  principle  underlying  all  labora- 
tory work,  except  when  laboratory  work  is  made  an  end 
in  itself.  The  student  who  sees  what  happens  to  a  soggy 
field  is  better  able  to  appreciate  the  reasons  for  under- 
drainage.  A  month  in  charge  of  a  dairy  herd  will  vitalize 
the  teaching  of  the  principles  of  feeding  as  nothing  in 
books  or  lectures  can  do.    The  case  system  has  revolu- 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  PROFESSIONAL  TRAINING        237 

tionized  the  study  of  law,  and  the  appeal  from  the  lecture 
and  the  textbook  in  medicine  to  the  laboratory,  the  bed- 
side, and  the  clinic  has  transformed  the  professional  train- 
ing of  the  physician.  Hence,  I  maintain  that  success  in 
teaching  the  principles  of  professional  practice  is  con- 
ditioned by  actual  experience  in  the  practice  of  the  pro- 
fession. Here,  then,  is  where  the  professional  school 
kills  two  birds  with  one  stone.  The  ideal  balance  is 
obtained  when  enough  practice  is  given  to  check  up  the 
theory,  and  enough  theory  to  direct  the  practice  aright. 
Disturb  this  balance  by  teaching  theory  as  an  end  in 
itself,  and  you  have  an  academic  institution.  Teach 
theory  as  reasons  for  practice,  and  you  have  the  makings 
of  a  professional  school.  More  cannot  be  expected  until 
teaching  itself  becomes  a  profession  and  its  novices  are 
subjected  to  the  same  rigorous  training  that  the  best 
professions  now  expect  of  their  candidates.  Meantime, 
there  is  only  one  unpardonable  sin  that  a  professional 
faculty  is  likely  to  commit,  and  that  is  the  failure  to  up- 
hold its  own  professional  standards  without  fear  or  favor 
of  academic  tradition. 


INDEX 


Agriculture,  13,  68,  72. 

American   characteristics,   26,   65, 

130. 
Americanization,  215,  217. 
Applied  design,  93-95. 
Appreciation,  training  for,  181. 
Armstrong,  Samuel  Chapman,  25. 
Athletics,  84. 
Autocracy,  208. 

Baden-Powell,  Sir  Robert,  193. 

Baxter,  Richard,  48. 

Belgium,  20. 

Beside  the  Bonnie  Brier  Bush,  140, 

141. 
Boston  Latin  School,  10. 
Bowditch,  Henry  P.,  71. 
Boy  scouts,  191,  192,  193,  196-199. 
Browning,  Robert,  169. 

Capital,  97. 

Ceramics,  106. 

Church,  training  for  the,   12,  54, 

207. 
Citizenship,  76,  113,  146,  185,  186, 

193,  215. 

Classical  training,  15,  27. 

Classroom  practice,  133. 

Code,  educational,  44,  45. 

Coeducation,    157,    159,    163,    165, 
167,  168. 

College   Entrance   Examination 
Board,  58. 

College    graduate    as    secondary- 
school  teacher,  27-30. 

College  training,  27,  31,  34,  38,  41, 

139- 
Community  life,  164. 


Consciousness  of  kind,  217. 
Correlation,  109. 

Courses  of  study,  15,  18,  109,  122. 
Creed,  educational,  23. 
Curriculum,  90,  97,  107,  iii,  112, 

121,  161,  224,  225,  232. 
"  Cuteness,"  22,  62. 

Deadwood  in  education,  187. 
Democracy,  9,  21,  24,  25,  69,  113, 
129,  201,  202,  204,  205,  209,  211, 

213. 

Denmark,  68. 

Denominational  control  of  schools, 

12. 
Dentistry,  schools  of,  13,  72. 
Discipline,  mental,  118. 

Economics,  study  of,  96. 

Elementary  schools,  11,  17,  26, 
95-96,  113,  206,  207,  215. 

Engineering,  13,  72. 

England,  9,  20,  21,  51-52,  53-55. 

Environment  as  educational  fac- 
tor, 187. 

Ethical  code  for  teachers,  218,  219, 
222. 

Ethics,  87,  115,  116,  126,  218. 

Examinations,  47,  48-49,  50-51, 
53-54,  57,  58-59,  210. 

False  economy,  230. 

France,  vocational  training  in,  19. 

Golden  Rule,  the,  204,  214. 

Habits,    175,    176,    194,    195,  212, 
213,  234- 
238 


INDEX 


239 


Harvard  College,   10;  University, 

71. 

Health  instruction  for  parents,  172. 
Hippocratic  oath,  74,  116. 
Holland,  20. 
Horace  Mann  Schools,  157. 

Ideals,  51-52,  56-57,  175,  224. 
Immigration,  12. 
Individualism,  185. 
IndividuaHty,  development  of,  195. 
Industrialism,  12. 
Industrial  arts,  103. 
Industrial  education,  108,  112,  113. 
Industries,  102,  104,  106,  112. 

James,  Edmund  J.,  64. 
James,  William,  176. 
Junior  colleges,  223. 

Kipling,  Rudyard,  52,  56,  191. 
Knowledge,  118,  133,  224. 

Labor,  22,  24,  97. 
Law,  13,  72,  235,  237. 
Leadership,  11,  14,  22,  39,  70,  79, 

134,  135.  180,  217. 
Lee,  General,  182. 
Liberal  education,  28,  80,  97. 

Majority  rule,  203,  205. 
Man  as  social  being,  32. 
Manual  training,  24,  92,  93,  95, 

98-101. 
Mechanical  arts,  13. 
Medicine,  13,  71. 
Money-spending  profession,  179. 
Morals  and  manners,  174,  175. 
Moral  standards,  116,  211. 
Mosely  Commission  61,  62,  63. 
Motor  element  in  education,  90. 

Natural  resources,  63,  68. 
New  England,  9-1 1,  49. 
Normal  schools,  33,  39-42,  125. 


Opportunity  (equality  of)  in  edu- 
cation, 16,  21,  56,  113,  114,  161, 
166,  173. 

Organizations  of  teachers,  217,  218, 
219-221. 

Personality,  37. 

Pioneering,  64,  65. 

Practice,  123,  237. 

Practitioner,    general,     142,     149, 

151,  234. 

Professional  consciousness,  127. 
Professional  schools,  13,  41-42,  72, 

224,  225,  226,  228,  231,  232. 
Professional  service,  38,  77,  78,  79- 

81,  82,  83,  88,  116,  126,  138,  141. 
Professional  standards,  41,  218. 
Professional   training,    13,    29-35, 

37,  70,  72,  117,  123,   137,  138, 

139,  223,  224,  227,  236. 

Relative  worths,  211. 
Religion,  17,  18. 

Sadler,  Michael  Ernest,  52,  55-56, 
Salaries,  28,  30,  222. 
Science,  applied,  12,  68. 
School  management,  135. 
School  organizations,  136. 
Scouting  education,  184. 
Secondary  schools,   26,  27,  28,  30, 

31,  35,  37-39,  41,  44-45,  50-51, 
115,  127,  139,  159,  164,  206,  207, 

215. 
Self -direction,  130,  132,  136. 
Self-made  men,  70. 
Social  life,  85,  175. 
Socialization,  82,  99. 
Social  needs,  100. 
Specialist    the,  142-143,  148,  150, 

152,  229. 

SpeciaHzation  in  education,  33,  95, 

140,  142,  143,  145,  147,  217,  228. 
Spencer,  Herbert,  172. 
Standards  in  training,  137. 


240 


INDEX 


State  control,  12,  208.  Tom  Brown's  School  Days,  54.. 

State,  training  for  the,  12,  54,  207.  [Trades  Unions,  41,  208,  218. 
Subject  matter,  selection  of,  loi. 
Support  of  education,  19. 
Sweden,  20. 
Switzerland,  20. 


Teachers'  colleges,  30,  43,  153-156. 
Technic  of  teaching,  34. 
Technical  skill,  123,  125,  224,  234, 

235. 
Textbooks,  use  of,  34,  91. 
Theory  as  reasons  for  practice,  237. 
Three  R's,  17,  113. 


University,  the,  27,  43,  79,  81,  233. 


Vocational  training,  13,  17,  18,  19, 
24,  90,  95,  96,  98,  100,  145,  161, 
162,  208,  227. 

Washington  and  Lee  University, 

182. 
Whitman,  Walt,  176. 
Worship,  freedom  of,  12. 


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